The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, met today at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they discussed the situation of drugs in the Americas and the need to address the problem from a public health perspective.
Washington, D.C., 29 July 2013 (PAHO/WHO) — The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, met today at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they discussed the situation of drugs in the Americas and the need to address the problem from a public health perspective.
The two leaders agreed that their organizations, which are both members of the Inter-American System, would work more closely together to address drug-related issues in the hemisphere.
The OAS's recently published Report on the Drug Problem in the Americas as well as the publication Drug Policy and the Public Good, which was translated into Spanish by PAHO, both provide material for analysis of these issues. PAHO is assigned an important role in the Hemispheric Plan of Action 2010 of the OAS's Inter-American Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse (CICAD).
Dr. Etienne noted that the ministers of health of the Americas in 2010 approved a regional Strategy on Substance Use and Public Health and approved a Plan of Action on Psychoactive Substance Use and Public Health in 2011. The strategy and plan of action call for coordination between PAHO and CICAD and promote a public health approach focused on prevention, early intervention, treatment, rehabilitation, social reintegration, health systems management, and reduction of adverse consequences of substance use.
"In terms of prevention, we must take account of the social determinants of health," said PAHO Director Etienne, adding that a coalition of different sectors could be an effective means of addressing the problem of psychoactive substance use.
Other participants in the meeting included Carlos Santos-Burgoa, Director of PAHO's Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health; Alfonso Quiñonez, Secretary for External Relations of the OAS; and Paul Simons, Executive Secretary of CICAD.
