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Washington,
D.C., 21 November 2011 (PAHO/WHO) — The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) signed an agreement today with the Pan
American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) that provides
$5 million to improve health in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus
on maternal and neonatal health and tuberculosis (TB).
Under the
agreement, USAID will provide an estimated $5,041,913 over the next three years
to support PAHO/WHO technical cooperation in the following areas:
- Improving health services for TB and maternal and
neonatal health, through the use of evidence-based neonatal interventions, improved
planning and policies, stepped-up responses to multi-drug-resistant (MDR) and
extremely multi-drug-resistant (XDR) TB, and stronger routine systems for
implementing DOTS (directly observed treatment short-course) for TB.
- Building competencies in the health workforce, with a
focus on midwifery, prevention and control of MDR and XDR-TB, and health sector
leadership.
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Strengthening health information systems, including systems
that incorporate gender and ethnic perspectives as well as systems for
surveillance of congenital syphilis diagnosis and treatment, and for
epidemiological surveillance of MDR-TB.
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Improving the capacity of national health authorities
to carry out essential public health functions, including by monitoring and
evaluating their functions and performance.
The agreement also provides
support for efforts to eliminate onchocerciasis (river blindness) and for prevention
and control of malaria in Haiti.
Today’s agreement
builds on a 20-year partnership between USAID and PAHO/WHO that has produced significant
progress in areas including essential public health functions, health systems
and services, health information systems, and surveillance and healthcare practices
in maternal health, among other areas.
In the area of newborn
health, for example, USAID support was critical to the development of the
Interagency Neonatal Strategic Consensus and PAHO’s Regional Strategy and
Action Plan within the Continuum of Maternal, Newborn and Child Care. Based on
these frameworks, national neonatal action plans have been developed and are
being implemented in countries including Bolivia,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Panama and the Dominican Republic.
“We are
extremely grateful to the United
States for this important funding, but also
for the very close relationship we have with USAID, which has made this such an
exceptional collaboration,” said PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses. “Both
technically and in terms of funding, it is truly a pillar of PAHO’s
strategic plan.” |
