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PAHO NEWS: Press Releases, Job Vacancies, and Other
Information from the Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) via the Canadian Society for International Health
(CSIH) http://www.csih.org; Technical Representative in
Canada for PAHO
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PAHO Mobilizing $30 million for Central America after
Hurricane Mitch
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Washington, Feb. 3, 1999 - The Pan American Health
Organization is seeking to mobilize some $30 million for
regional health, nutrition, and food projects to help the
Central American countries affected by Mitch, said Dr.
Irene Klinger, Chief of PAHO's Office of External
Relations.
Dr. Klinger, who just returned from a meeting in Honduras
of Central American ministers in charge of reconstruction
after Mitch, in Honduras, said regional projects were
identified in health, nutrition, disaster vulnerability
reduction, and food safety. In health, a regional
project is planned to fight epidemics including cholera,
dengue, malaria, and vaccine-preventable diseases. So
far, PAHO has committed $1 million to combat cholera in
Central America and is seeking another $8 million from
the U.S. Agency for International Development and the
governments of Sweden, Spain and Canada, she said.
In the area of water and sanitation, where Mitch caused
immense damage to those systems in rural and urban areas
of Central America, Sweden has agreed to finance an $8
million project to rehabilitate and rebuild water and
sanitation systems. This will help reduce cholera and
diarrheal diseases and cut risks from dengue and malaria.
To rebuild immunization programs in Central America,
damaged by the hurricane, PAHO is seeking $8.1 million
from USAID, Sweden and Canada, and has received a
commitment of $1.5 million so far for Honduras, Dr.
Klinger said.
The Dutch government has agreed to finance a $3.5 million
regional project to strengthen local health services in
Central America, and another project for $3 million is
being negotiated to build health structures resistant to
disasters, she said. Dr. Klinger said that at the meeting
in Honduras, ministers identified regional projects and
programs intended to strengthen Central American
integration, including improving health, nutrition, and
education; reducing disaster vulnerability; increasing
food security; rehabilitating the agricultural sector and
modernizing the industrial sector.
The Pan American Health Organization, founded in 1902,
works with all the countries of the Americas to improve
the health and raise the living standards of their
peoples. It serves as the Regional Office of the World
Health Organization, and has offices in 27 countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean as well as nine
scientific and technical centers apart from its
headquarters in Washington, D.C.
For more information please call Daniel Epstein Tel (202)
974-3459, Fax (202) 974-3143, Office of Public
Information, e-mail: [log in to unmask] 525 Twenty-Third
Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037, USA
http:\\www.paho.org
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Excerpts From the Inauguration of Dr. George Alleyne for
a Second Term as Director of the Pan American Health
Organization on the Web
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The Office of Public Information is pleased to announce
that excerpts, both visual and audio, are available on
the Internet of Dr. Alleyne's swearing-in ceremony.
Please go to http://www.paho.org/english/DPI/alleyne.htm
and follow the instructions from there.
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This document is available, with full formatting and
accents, at http://www.csih.org/paho_ndx.html
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