News Releases

Washington D.C. 27 December 2023 (PAHO) – As the year draws to a close, it is time to reflect upon some of highlights from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as well as major advances towards health in the Region of the Americas: Dr. Barbosa begins his tenure as PAHO Director – On 31st January, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa was sworn in as new…
Washington, DC, 18 December 2023 (PAHO)- With the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have begun to implement new therapies to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disease that affects around 42,000 people each year in Latin America and which can leave disfiguring scars. Leishmaniasis is…
Geneva, 14 December 2023 (WHO) — Urgent action is needed to control e-cigarettes to protect children, as well as non-smokers and minimize health harms to the population. E-cigarettes as consumer products are not shown to be effective for quitting tobacco use at the population level. Instead, alarming evidence has emerged on adverse population…
Geneva, 13 December 2023 - The annual number of road traffic deaths fell slightly to 1.19 million per year, according to the latest WHO report. Yet with more than 2 deaths occurring per minute and over 3200 per day, road traffic crashes remain the leading killer of children and youth aged 5–29 years. The latest WHO global status report on…
Washington, DC, 12 December 2023 (PAHO)- On the occasion of Universal Health Day (also called Universal Health Coverage Day), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, highlighted the efforts made by countries of the Americas to recover public health gains lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts include…
Montevideo, 6 December 2023 (PAHO) - The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, visited Uruguay this week where he met with senior government officials, legislators and deans of medical schools. The PAHO Director also visited hospitals and health centers and attended the Regional Forum: Alliance for Primary…
Geneva, 5 December 2023 - The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing today new data that show a low global rate of taxes being applied to unhealthy products such as alcohol and sugary sweetened beverages (SSBs). The findings highlight that the majority of countries are not using taxes to incentivize healthier behaviours. To help…
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 4 December 2023 (PAHO) – The Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas, has urged countries of the Americas to ensure the health impacts of climate change are taken on board as they continue to rebuild and strengthen health systems in the aftermath of the COVID-19…
Montevideo, Uruguay, December 4, 2023– The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank (WB) today launched the Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas, a collaboration to boost investment, innovation and implementation of policies and initiatives aimed at transforming health…