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.