By Dr. Carissa F. Etienne

As Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), I am committed to advancing universal health coverage in the Americas. My dream is that every individual can have access to the health care that they need, when they need it, and where they need it.

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) can bring us closer to realizing this dream. Telemedicine, mHealth, electronic health records, among others, improve health services access, efficiency, and quality. PAHO Member States recognize this and are committed to implementing the regional eHealth Strategy and Plan of Action.

Por Adalberto Tardelli

Virtual libraries, collaborative spaces, specialized dictionaries, directories, and full texts are but some of the information sources that comprise the Virtual Health Library (VHL), regionally and globally coordinated by BIREME, the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information of PAHO/WHO.

Major inequities in access to health services persist in our Region as a consequence of a variety of factors that limit the possibilities of receiving medical care when and where it is needed. These inequities also affect access to information for informed decision making, as well as the capacity of health workers to utilize information and communications technologies to access that information.

By Analía Porras and James Fitzgerald

PAHO/WHO is actively working to promote innovation in health technologies in the Americas. Intrinsically linked with innovation is the goal of improving access to essential medicines, biologicals, and diagnostics in all Member States. To better achieve this goal, we developed the Regional Platform on Access and Innovation for Health Technologies (PRAIS). This Platform is composed of a series of virtual tools used to support and promote innovation, access, rational use, and governance in the area of essential medicines, biologicals and diagnostics from a public health perspective...

In an editorial published by International Innovation Magazine, the Manager of Knowledge Management and Communications at PAHO/WHO, Marcelo D'Agostino, explains why leaders in eHealth could learn from players in jazz bands. Read the editorial

International Innovation is a global dissemination resource for the wider scientific, technology and research communities, dedicated to disseminating the latest science, research and technological innovations on a global level. More information and a complimentary subscription offer to the publication can be found at: www.researchmedia.eu