The original procedures and criteria for conferring this award were adopted by the 18th Pan American Sanitary Conference in 1970 and have been amended a number of times to better reflect the demands of the new millennium and the strategies with which the PAHO Secretariat and the Member Governments should address them. At the same time, the changes recognize the importance of having a larger, more diverse pool of candidates to permit a selection process consistent with these challenges.

The Organization is now receiving nominations for the 2013 edition of the award. There is extensive information on PAHO’s Awards and Honors page, for anyone interested in sending a nomination.

La conmemoración del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas, este 9 de agosto, está dedicada al empoderamiento de las voces indígenas, a través de sus medios de comunicación. Se resalta así la importancia que tiene para los pueblos originarios la capacidad de levantar la voz, expresarse en el propio lenguaje, transmitir sus saberes y sus demandas, y ser escuchados para hacer visibles y reconocidas sus necesidades y potencialidades, sus contribuciones y trascendencia para la sociedad.

Detrás de la desigualdad e inequidad que históricamente han afectado a nuestros pueblos indígenas, y que aún les afectan a pesar de los innegables avances en los últimos años, ha estado siempre presente la discriminación, la marginalización, la negación o negligencia sobre su presencia.

Por ello, un paso esencial para superar la desigualdad y la exclusión es hacer visibles la existencia y las condiciones de vida de los pueblos indígenas, así como la de otros grupos sociales marginados. La iniciativa Rostros, Voces y Lugares lanzada por OPS promueve una participación activa para el empoderamiento y la incidencia política por el derecho a la salud de los pueblos indígenas. Es instrumento imprescindible para el cumplimiento de los Objetivos del Milenio en nuestra Región, buscando que no solo se reflejen en números e indicadores sino también en la mejoría de las condiciones y situación de la salud de cada individuo y comunidad.

Los medios de comunicación son un aliado crucial en esta tarea de abrir los ojos y los oídos de toda la sociedad. Sean de cobertura hemisférica, nacional o comunitaria, los medios han apoyado de manera constante los esfuerzos de la OPS por hacer realidad el derecho a la salud de los pueblos de las Américas, y en particular el de los pueblos indígenas, los afro descendientes, las mujeres, los pobres y discriminados.

En el Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas va nuestro reconocimiento y compromiso con los medios de comunicación, en especial los propios de los pueblos indígenas, que canalizan y amplifican la voz de quienes han sido silenciados, ayudando a empoderar y visibilizar a quienes han estado excluidos. Estamos todos convocados en esta lucha incansable por la igualdad, para hacer realidad el derecho a la salud de los pueblos indígenas y el acceso universal a la salud.

Enlaces

• Resolución del Consejo Directivo de la OPS sobre la Salud de los Pueblos Indígenas de las Américas
• Oficina de Género, Diversidad Cultural y Derechos Humanos
• Iniciativa de la OPS/OMS Rostros, Voces y Lugares
• Nota de Prensa de la OPS/OMS en ocasión del Día Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas

The members of the new coalition are the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), UNICEF, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS). The members pledge to support efforts by the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic to harmonize and streamline international assistance and investments in water and sanitation infrastructure aimed at eliminating cholera from the island. They also issued a declaration urging other governments and international organizations to support these efforts.

By becoming signatories to this coalition and the accompanying declaration, we move one step closer to achieving our vision of a cholera-free Hispaniola and a cholera-free Americas.

On January 11 of this year, the presidents of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, together with representatives of PAHO/WHO, UNICEF, and the CDC, issued a call to action to eliminate cholera from both countries through new investments in water and sanitation infrastructure. The new Regional Coalition on Water and Sanitation for the Elimination of Cholera in the Island of Hispaniola will bring together the necessary technical expertise, raise new funds, and mobilize previously committed pledges.

More than half a million people are estimated to have been sickened by cholera in Haiti between October 2010 and May of this year, and more than 7,000 have lost their lives. The Dominican Republic has reported more than 21,000 cases and over 400 deaths from cholera.

The situation is unacceptable and requires our joint attention. Only major improvements in Haitis water and sanitation systems will provide durable solutions to the epidemic over time. Communities where everyone has clean water to drink and a safe place to go to the toilet are within our grasp. Lives can be saved, productivity increased, security heightened, and health costs reduced.

Even before the January 2010 earthquake, only 69% of Haiti’s residents had access to safe drinking water, and access to sanitation had declined from 26% of the population in 1990 to only 17% in 2010. In the Dominican Republic, 86% of the population had access to improved drinking water sources and 83% had access to improved sanitation in 2010.

The coalition pledged to support efforts to achieve water and sanitation for all on the island by promoting cross-sector and multi-institutional dialog and action at the local, national, and international levels, as spelled out in national and bilateral plans for the elimination of cholera on the island of Hispaniola.

The plans include efforts to guarantee chlorinated water and surveillance of quality for all water sources, and include support for the responsible institutions at the national and provincial levels to improve or construct new sewage systems and provide training in their correct use and in personal hygiene.

We can still recall the cholera epidemic in the 1990s that spread to over 20 countries in Latin America, with the last case reported in 2002. Investments in water and sanitation infrastructure and health promotion helped stem the epidemic and contributed to the virtual elimination of cholera from Central and South America within eight years.

If left unchecked, these deadly but preventable diseases threaten to spread once again to the rest of the American hemisphere, with their high toll on human life and well-being and producing an economic catastrophe as a result of impacts on agricultural trade, tourism, and a hesitancy to invest by private sector industries. Every case and death from cholera is preventable. Every new case highlights the unacceptable social and economic inequities reflected in poor living conditions and limited access to clean water and sanitation services.

There is a historical precedent for the Regional Coalition. Beginning in the 1960s, PAHO/WHO managed a Community Water Supply Fund based on voluntary contributions from countries. PAHO developed the pre-investment proposals that were subsequently financed by the Inter-American Development Bank. The fund was used to train civil, chemical, and biological engineers, laboratory technicians, and program administrators responsible for monitoring water quality and promoting human resource development in the area of water and sanitation.

We need to think once again–a half-century later–of innovative technical and financial mechanisms to provide durable solutions to eliminate the scourge of cholera from the island of Hispaniola.

LINKS:

• PAHO – A Cholera-Free Hispaniola
• PAHO – Haiti website
• PAHO – Dominican Republic website
• OPS – Haiti Blog

In 2012 the Pan American Sanitary Conference takes place. Thus, this should be a special occasion to grant the oldest award conferred by our Organization to those who have made outstanding contributions to the strengthening of health systems through management. The closing date for receiving nominations to the Award is March 31.

For more information please visit www.paho.org/award