Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the oldest continuously serving international health institution in the world. It began as the International Sanitary Bureau, formed by the Second International Conference of American States in 1902 when countries of the western hemisphere agreed to work together to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948, and in 1949 the Pan American Sanitary Bureau (the successor to the International Sanitary Bureau) became the WHO Regional Office for the Americas. In 1950, this office became the specialised agency for health for the inter-American system, and in 1958 it was renamed PAHO. PAHO is thus a specialised agency of both the United Nations and inter-American systems.

Address delivered by Dr. Stephen J. Corber, Director, Division of Disease Prevention and Control, Pan American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office of the World Health Organization, to the “Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance in the Americas—Second International Conference on Monitoring Health Behaviors: Towards Global Surveillance,” at Tuusula, Finland, 1–3 October 2001.