The Directing Council received yesterday a progress report on the implementation of the International Health Regulations in the Region over the past year. This report points out that although gradually, the Member States Part are making the Regulations their own and that the Organization continues to promote these mechanisms and initiatives and collaborate with the countries.

The 51st Directing Council addressed yesterday the progress report on the implementation of the global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, which states that Member States continue to “occupy a position of leadership in the global debate related to the global strategy.”

The Americas as a whole are mostly on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health. But continuing efforts are needed to bridge gaps in progress across countries and population groups, said the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in reports presented to PAHO’s 51st Directing Council this week.

The MDGs were set in 2000 by the 189 United Nations member countries that signed the Millennium Declaration. Three of the goals (4, 5 and 6) are directly related to health and at least five other goals and targets are inextricably linked to health.

Delegates to the 51st Directing Council were briefed this afternoon on the results of a final evaluation of the Regional Initiative and Plan of Action for Transfusion Safety 2006-2010. The report analyzes data from 35 countries and territories, excluding Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico and the French Territories. It also incorporates the findings of an External Evaluation Team appointed by PAHO’s Director to assess problems and progress in this area in Member States.

The evaluation found that only four countries in the Caribbean follow a legal framework for blood services, while all but three Latin American countries have such a framework. Even in the countries with legal frameworks, however, insufficient human and financial resources are allocated for transfusion safety at the national level. The multiplicity of operational actors, coupled with limited oversight by health authorities, represents a major obstacle to the appropriate use of resources.

Delegates to the 51st Directing Council participated in the first of a series of information sessions on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which will be held from now on during each annual meeting of the Directing Council.

Paula Hacopian, manager of board relationst for the fund; Lelio Marmora, of the fund’s Latin America and Caribbean Region; and three regional portfolio managers shared information on the fund’s policies, governance and operations and answered questions from Directing Council delegates about recent changes in the fund’s practices.

The 51st Directing Council approved the salary of the Director of the Pan American Health Organization.

The countries of the Americas approved the budget of the Pan American Health Organization for the 2012-2013 biennium. The Director of PAHO, Dr. Mirta Roses, thanked the countries for their support, adding that the Organization’s staff will do it’s best to promote the best use of resources and to ensure compliance with the PAHO Strategic Plan for the Region.