1983
1995

Carlyle Guerra de Macedo was born in the state of Piauí in Brazil on April 15, 1937. He obtained his medical degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco in 1962. Dr. Macedo pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina and earned his degree in Public Health and Public Health Administration in 1968. Before joining PAHO, he had a distinguished career in public health at the local, state, and federal levels in Brazil, as a visiting professor at many schools of public health throughout Latin America, and in the administration of public health programs for WHO. In 1983 he became director of PAHO. He was reelected twice and continued to serve as director of the Organization until 1995. Under Dr. Macedo s leadership, PAHO adopted a series of policies aimed at improving people s health, providing basic health care, strengthening health service infrastructures on the national and local levels, and drawing a closer relationship between health and social, political, and economic development. Innovations such as subregional health initiatives, especially in Central America, were implemented during his tenure. Dr. Macedo served as vice president of the Global Commission for the Certification of Polio Eradication (WHO), and as counselor on the National Council of Health in Brazil. Dr. Macedo currently serves as director emeritus of PAHO.