Interview with Dr. Andrus, Deputy Director
By Rashmi Basapur (Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control) - Summer 2009
On March 28, 2009, a 4-year-old boy named Edgar Hernandez contracted swine flu in Mexico; what marked the beginning of the H1N1 outbreak in the Americas. A couple months after the emergence of this global public health crisis, Rashmi Basapur explores with Dr. Jon Andrus the impact of the H1N1 pandemic on the Pan American Health Organization's work and the new global challenges it raised for the public health community.
The ProVac Initiative- An Inventive Project for Providing Technical Support Regarding New Vaccines’ Introduction
By Apoorva Srivastava (Family and Community Health) - Fall 2009
Each year rotavirus is estimated to cause approximately 440,000 deaths worldwide due to gastroenteritis in children under 5, while pneumococcal invasive diseases are estimated to kill about 20,200 children every year in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. To battle these public health challenges, a number of new and underutilized life-saving vaccines - such as pneumococcus, rotavirus, and human papillomavirus (HPV) - have been made available in recent years. However, the costs of these vaccines are significantly higher than previous ones, what calls for careful cost-effectiveness analysis and competing options before allocating the scarce resources. The ProVac Initiative, launched in September 2006, provides the required technical cooperation and tools to support the decision-making process for the introduction of new vaccines..
Back to Basics
By Elsy M Dumit (Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control) - Summer 2010
Despite recent technological advancements and growing economic potential—especially in the field of health care—the health status of many countries has continued to deteriorate, especially in Haiti. After the catastrophic earthquake of 12 January 2010, the health situation in Haiti has worsened. Because innovations in health include introducing new techniques, technologies, and information to a country, the case of Haiti presents a bit of a conundrum: it requires going back to basics.
HIV vulnerability and migration in the Americas
By Shira Goldenberg (Family and Community Health) - Summer 2010
Population migration is extensive and continues to accelerate in the Americas. For instance, at least nine percent of Mexico’s population is living in the United States. Migration, defined as the “movement of people through space and time”, can be intra-national (e.g. rural-urban migration) or inter-national (e.g., Southern nation-Northern nation migration). It can also be voluntary or forced. Migrant populations include seasonal workers, economic migrants, trafficked or smuggled persons, deportees, refugees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Poverty and limited income opportunities, social and political conflicts, discrimination and stigma, as well as climate change and natural disasters are examples of factors that encourage migration. In contrast, communities of migrants established abroad, access to information regarding the availability of jobs in economically developed areas, and desire for family reunification attract migrants to their respective destinations.
Managing health risks in a globalized environment: legal innovation & persistent challenges
By Julie Mauvernay (External Relations, Resource Mobilization and Partnerships) - Summer 2010
Globalization is an ongoing process that has progressively transformed the number and the nature of human interactions, and processed these interactions in an increasingly complex and interdependent entity. The SARS epidemic, the H5N1 and H1N1 influenzas or – in another domain – the recent financial crisis that hit the global economy are striking examples of the interconnectedness that bond all individual states in a greater and more intricate system. In our globalized world, diseases can spread far and wide via international travel and trade; and a health crisis in one country can severely impact livelihoods and economies in many other parts of the world. The increased interactions between societies and the acceleration of these exchanges represent a growing threat to individuals and new challenges for national and international security. This has led to the adoption of a new legal instrument to further protect nations and their people named the revised International Health Regulations (IHR 2005).
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Special Thanks to: The Internship Program Coordinator, Farida Kerouani; The Editing Team, Ashlund Dunaway and Julie Mauvernay.
