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11/24/2015 - Lack of access to toilets is endangering millions of the world’s poorest children, UNICEF said today, pointing to emerging evidence of links between inadequate sanitation and malnutrition. Some 2.4 billion people globally do not have toilets and 946 million – roughly 1 in 8 of the world’s population – defecate in the open. Meanwhile, an estimated 159 million children under 5 years old are stunted (short for their age) and another 50 million are wasted (low weight for age). A report issued today, Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, from UNICEF, USAID and the World Health Organization, for the first time brings together years of research and case studies which demonstrate the link between sanitation and malnutrition. More importantly, it provides guidance for action. -
11/19/2015 - The Pan American Journal of Public Health, published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), announces a call for papers for an upcoming special issue on HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment in the Region of the Americas: Achievements, Challenges and Perspectives, to be published by December of 2016 with support from the HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis and STI Unit at PAHO and other regional partners. -
11/18/2015 - The ministers of health of MERCOSUR and Associate States completed initial negotiations with a number of pharmaceutical companies on 13 November in Asunción, Paraguay, that will lead to the joint procurement of high-cost medicines, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). In an initial round of negotiations, the ministers of health received an offer from the pharmaceutical company Gilead for an antiviral medicine against hepatitis C at the lowest price available in the region. Agreement was also reached on using the PAHO Strategic Fund for pooled procurement of an antiretroviral medicine to treat HIV/AIDS. -
11/18/2015 - Updated figures released by the United Nations yesterday revealed that the global maternal death ratio has dropped 44 per cent since 1990. Yet too many women continue to die needlessly, and a majority of them are dying in countries afflicted by humanitarian crises or fragile conditions. Between 1990 and 2015, the annual number of maternal deaths fell from about 532,000 to 303,000, according to the latest figures released by UNFPA, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN Population Division. The maternal death ratio fell from 385 deaths to 216 out of every 100,000 live births. -
11/16/2015 - An estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa as a result of a strengthening El Niño, which is also causing droughts and floods in parts of Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, UNICEF warned on Tuesday. The consequences could ripple through generations unless affected communities receive support amid crop failures and lack of access to drinking water that are leaving children malnourished and at risk of killer diseases, UNICEF said in report called A Wake Up Call: El Niño's Impact on Children. -
11/03/2015 - The experience of the European Union with cross-border health care was the subject of the opening conference of the workshop “Border health policies in UNASUR”, organized by ISAGS, from October 27 to 29, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The speech was broadcasted live and was delivered by the expert from European Commission, Maria Iglesia Gomez. Delegations from the 12 countries of the Bloc, besides representatives from sub-regional organisms - CARICOM, ACTO, ORAS-CONHU and MERCOSUR – participated. -
10/26/2015 - With the purpose of responding to the needs of countries of the Andean area in order to ensure the access to quality and efficient medicines at a low cost, the electronic platform of the Andean Observatory on Medicines was launched in Cochabamba (Bolivia), on October 13. The mechanism was developed by the Executive Secretariat and by the Subregional Technical Commission on Policies for the Access to Medicines of ORAS-CONHU, and received support from PAHO Bolivia, as well as contributions from the Ministries of Health of the region. The strategic points of the Andean policy for medicines outlined the four central axes that constitute the Observatory: the access to medicines; quality, efficiency and safety; the rational use of medicines; research and development. -
10/19/2015 - The head of the Unit for Health Care Systems of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health, Maria Iglesia-Gomez, will deliver the opening speech of the workshop “Border Health Policies in UNASUR”, on October 27 (Tuesday), at 10.30 am, at the headquarters of the South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS), in Rio de Janeiro. During the event, the expert will talk about the experiences of the European Union with cross-border health care, demonstrating the importance of health in the development of public policies towards regional integration and breaking geopolitical paradigms. -
10/14/2015 - UNASUR’s Public Health Schools Network (RESP) held a workshop on October 6-8 in Ecuador to discuss and develop quality criteria and minimum common curricula in public health for mid-level (technical) and undergraduate level in South America. The meeting included representatives from ten countries of UNASUR (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela), as well as members of the South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS), the Center for International Relations in Health (CRIS/Fiocruz) and UNASUR Health Technical Schools Network (RETS-UNASUR), one of the two subnetworks of the International Network of Health Technicians Education (RETS). -
10/13/2015 - Experts from international organisms and members of ISAGS concluded on 14 August, the preparatory meeting for the workshop "Border health policies in UNASUR”. The event will be held on October 27, 28 and 29 at the headquarters of the Institute in Rio de Janeiro, and its objective is to outline an international, subregional and intersectoral overview of health care in border areas through an exchange of experiences. The aim is to understand the political, economic and social mechanisms at national and local levels in order to point out challenges and formulate recommendations.