Dr. Mirta Roses Periago is the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the world's oldest public health agency, founded in 1902, which is also the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). In September 2002, Dr. Roses was elected Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau by the countries of the Hemisphere and she took office on 1 February 2003 for a five-year term, serving as the first woman to head the world's oldest international health organization. In September 2007, she was reelected to another term as Director of the Organization and has been reappointed as Regional Director for the Americas by the World Health Organization's Executive Board.

Prior to assuming this office, she served two terms as Assistant Director of PAHO (1995-2003). Dr. Roses has vast international experience in public health, having worked for more than two decades on behalf of the countries of the Americas, actively participating in global efforts in epidemic control, equity in health, social promotion, and health regulation.

The first woman to serve as Director of this century-old institution, Dr. Roses Periago has promoted a work philosophy that links consensus building with the forging of partnerships to attract new social actors to the defense of health, focusing efforts on achieving visible improvements in the health situation of the countries, support for priority countries, strong promotion of equity in health with the decentralization of resources targeted to national priorities, and care for neglected populations. This reflects the strategic framework that she has developed to organize the technical cooperation of PAHO around three major objectives: addressing the unfinished agenda in health, maintaining achievements, and tackling new challenges.