Washington, D.C., 13 August 2009 (PAHO) The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, was honored today in Peru by the Congress of the Republic in a plenary session to be held on the first day of her visit to that country. Prior to the ceremony she was welcomed by President Alan García, with whom she discussed the Region's critical health issues and the response to the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.
After thanking Congress for the honor, Dr. Roses Periago met with the Minister of Health, Dr. Óscar Ugarte Ubilluz, as part of a heavy three-day work agenda to discuss public health issues and social programs with leaders from different areas.
As she does whenever she visits a country in the Hemisphere, Dr. Roses Periago will devote part of her time to meetings with staff from the PAHO/WHO Representative Office (Lima), where she will participate in the ceremony recognizing years of service to the Organization, and from the Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS), headquartered in that country.
On Saturday, 15 August, she will leave Lima for Iquitos, where she will present the Faces, Voices and Places Initiative - Belén, whose purpose is to fulfill one of the Organization's main objectives: reducing inequity by meeting the health needs of the most vulnerable population. This time, the focus will be on a municipio located in the heart of the Amazon.
The initiative, which has already been replicated in many countries, helps build citizenship with an approach that stresses rights and shared responsibilities, and it does so through an intersectoral, interagency effort that combines actions with determination for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
After visiting Pueblo Libre in the low-altitude zone of Belén, Dr. Roses Periago will be named "Illustrious Guest" of that municipio during the closure of the Festival of Belén, a party held to bring peoples together and develop robust public health.
PAHO was created in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. It is the Regional Office of the World Health Organization for the Americas and works with countries to improve the health and quality of life of their peoples.
