Christiane Dosne de Pasqualini: “We discovered that the body fights cancer.”

1 April 2013 No Comments
Pascualini

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4QxcE8-8G7k

Born in France on 9 February 1920, Christiane Dosne de Pasqualini was raised in Canada, received a doctorate in Experimental Medicine (Ph.D.) from McGill University in Montreal in 1942 and then moved to Argentina with a fellowship from the Canadian Federation of University Women. Student of Nobel prize winner in Medicine Bernardo Houssay, she was a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the first woman to become a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Dosne de Pasqualini published more than 300 works on experimental cancer and immunology in national and international journals. In the interview, she explains that she attempted to discover the cause of leukemia, and speaks about their discovery that the human body fights against cancer and in certain conditions progesterone (a hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryogenesis) can lead to breast cancer.

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Elsa Segura: “I organized the first network of blood transfusion control laboratories in the Americas.”

1 April 2013 No Comments
ElsaSegura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCE0bc1jKEI&feature=player_embedded

Argentine Dr. Elsa Segura explains how she first came to work at the Fatala Chabén National Chagas Institute, where she remained for 30 years, 19 as its director. She also speaks of her interest in blood transfusion issues in Buenos Aires, which led her to set up the first network of blood transfusion control laboratories in America that served as a basis when the HIV/AIDS epidemic arrived on the scene, as she explains.
Dr. Segura speaks of her work beginning in 1981 at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) as principal researcher and her subsequent rise to senior researcher. She also relates that she was a consultant at the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for issues on Chagas disease, laboratories, and biotechnology. “I was also part of PAHO’s Health Research Committee for four years,” she adds. “This has been my life: witnessing, observing and covering health needs with my mind focused on basic research.”

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Francisco López Beltrán: “Malnutrition remains one of the most serious problems.”

25 October 2012 No Comments

El Salvador’s former Minister of Health Francisco López Beltrán explains some of the achievements of his career. For example, he helped successfully bring down the price of antiretrovirals when he was president of the 55th World Health Assembly. He also speaks about the challenges during the earthquakes in 2001 to prevent the emergence of diseases such as cholera.

Dengue was another problem affecting the country during his mandate as Minister of Health, he adds in the video, in which he also explains the construction of PAHO centennial village, a complex of 100 housing units that continues to provide shelter for earthquake victims. Finally, López Beltrán recalls that the struggle against malnutrition remains a challenge for many countries in the Region.

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Samuel Aymer: “Health goes beyond medicine.”

18 October 2012 No Comments

Former Minister of Health of Antigua and Barbuda Samuel Aymer explains how he came to work for the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in 1978 first as a consultant and then as a member of the Office of Jamaica advising the government of the Bahamas, where he became the first PAHO Representative. “A huge challenge,” he reports, since he had to ensure access to health for all the islands.

Winner of PAHO’s Award to Excellence in 1988, Aymer points out the organization’s key in providing technical assistance to countries. He also notes the importance of the Alma-Ata conference and primary health care. In his message, he stresses that health goes beyond medicine.

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Jacinto Convit: “Leprosy was a serious problem because it was believed to be untreatable.”

18 October 2012 No Comments

Venezuelan Doctor Jacinto Convit, considered to be one of the world’s leading figures in the fight against leprosy, explains how he began his career and some of his greatest achievements. “Leprosy was a serious problem because it was considered to be untreatable,” recalls the doctor, who developed a vaccine against the disease.
A finalist for the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine because of his major contributions, Convit also has conducted cancer studies at the Venezuelan Biomedicine Institute, which he founded and continues to direct. He also recalls with deep satisfaction the recognition in 2003 as Public Health Hero of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO Regional Office for the Americas, as part of the organization’s centennial celebration.

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Edgar Mohs: “In five years we successfully cut infant mortality by 50% in Costa Rica.”

18 October 2012 No Comments

Former Minister of Health of Costa Rica Edgar Mohs speaks about his experience as director of National Children’s Hospital, where he strengthened education of pediatricians and attained other successes in what he considers was an era of major achievements in Costa Rica, during which time a new health code—the General Health Law – was proposed.

Other advances he mentions include reducing infant mortality by 50% in five years and 80% in 10 years. Poliomyelitis and diphtheria were practically eliminated in three years thanks to immunization, as well as measles, whooping cough and tetanus.

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Guido Miranda: “I was able to incorporate health as a part of the country’s development.”

18 October 2012 No Comments

Renowned Costa Rican physician Guido Miranda reviews some of his contributions to his country’s health system such as development of technical character of the Social Security Institute’s medical services, participation in the political movement to incorporate the right to health into the Constitution and helping establish the first health plan in 1971.

Miranda, former two-term president of the Social Security Institute, notes that Costa Rica’s high health coverage level enabled him to contribute—as consultant of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)—to development in other countries. He also recalls his participation in founding the Institute of Insurance Studies and Research of Central America, Panama and the Caribbean (ISCAP).

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Sumedha Khanna: “I contributed to most of the family planning programs in the Americas.”

5 October 2012 No Comments

Obstetrician, gynecologist and public health professional Sudemha Khanna specializes in women’s health programs, national family planning policies and safe motherhood strategies, in addition to training in leadership for public health and comprehensive health systems. A native of India, for more than 25 years she worked in the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as an expert in women’s health.

Khanna, the first female PAHO Representative, speaks about her experience in training public health workers in the Caribbean and advising on national family planning policies and women’s health programs, among other things.

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Rafael Cedillos: “Cooperation with research institutions is very important.”

5 October 2012 No Comments

Salvadoran Dr. Rafael Cedillos recounts his beginning as technical adviser on Chagas disease for the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Venezuela and how he later joined the team in Washington, where he was advisor on communicable diseases for all Latin America.

He also recounts his research on malaria and notes the importance of cooperation with research institutions. Cedillos notes his efforts to incorporate a practical perspective in the university and his work as head of the Scientific Research Council, where he is now president ad honorem, and his participation in establishing the Center for Health Research and Development.

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Luiz Augusto de Lima Pontes: “Working in the environmental sphere is going to help us envision a better world.”

5 October 2012 No Comments

Brazilian Luiz Augusto de Lima Pontes explains his beginning in the field of environmental health, his research on the incidence of leptospirosis in workers and subsequent statistical studies. He also explains how he began to work on an institutional development project for the water department, in which the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) participated.

Other key moments in his sanitary engineering career include his participation in helping found organizations such as the Basic Sanitation Company of São Paulo (SABESP) and his contributions as executive director of the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS). De Lima Pontes considers that working in the environmental sphere is going to help us envision a better world.

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