Description of the Pan American Health Organization - Essay Example

Public Health and Health Care The general public health and the physical wellbeing of the populations are of paramount importance to any nation. In this regard, the roles played by the public health agencies deserve special mention. The aims of the public heath care practice are to reduce the impact of illness and the incidence of diseases among the public. The proactiveness, briskness, and proper coordination in the health care agencies can directly influence the number of casualties. Various methods such as laboratory testing, use of information technology, epidemiological investigation, and spread of public education are used by the public health care agencies to fulfill their missions. The officials who are engaged in the public health are indeed worried about the contagion effects of the communicable diseases because of the phenomenal rise in the trade across the globe in food and other commodities as well as rise in global travel. (Lister, 2005. pp. 2-7) In this regard, the Washington-based, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is very important. Description of PAHO The PAHO is an international public health agency, which is working for more than a century for the physical wellbeing and to improve the standards of live of the Americans. Established in the year 1902 as the International Sanitary Bureau, the Pan American Health Organization has undergone large transformations in its more than hundred years of history. In the initial years of its operation, it was tiny organization under the umbrella of the United States Public Health Services, especially engaged in quarantine regulations. But, gradually it grew in prominence and presently PAHO serves as a sister organization of the World Health Organization (WHO), the watchdog of the health situation across the globe. The PAHO covers America, Latin America, and the Caribbean Island and deals with the health issues of these countries. It has its headquarter in Washington D.C and its technical experts are located in its 27 country offices. Now, under the tutelage of the WHO, PAHO looks in to the regional services of the WHO. Moreover, it is also responsible for various health, social development, environmental, and nutritional programs in the United States. All these health care initiatives of PAHO are driven by the moto of universal health equity in the country. This equity in health care services does not only encompass equal access of the health care services by all but also equity in the social factors determining the health throughout the nation (Fee and Brown. 2002, pp.1-2). Now, PAHO is at the forefront of several health care services throughout the US. Its programs include initiating campaigns to wipe out contagious diseases such as measles, small pox and poliomyelitis from the United States. It constantly endeavors to eliminate diseases, to raise the standard of lives of the Americans, and to bring equity in the health care services among the American populations by building up strategic tie-ups with the US member states and other strategic partners. The underlying values, which are instrumental behind the stupendous success of PAHO, are equity, excellence, solidarity, respect, and integrity. It persistently strives for reducing differences in the access to the health care facilities. It constantly endeavors to perform its mission with highest degree of excellence. It tries to work in a concerted way to successfully realize common objectives. Another inherent value system embedded in the work culture of PAHO is that it is open and broader enough to embrace all the concerned parties, including individuals and the countries. Finally, the culture of integrity i.e. transparency and the accountability in the operations are the great hallmarks of the great value system in PAHO. Whatsoever, PAHO has strategically tied-up with various international agencies and is instrumental behind the initiation of the Shared Agenda for Health in the United States. It is also responsible for lending assistance to the member states so that they can garner more resources for their health programs. Barring these, PAHO also shares its technical expertise with other parties to improve the health situation in the US. (Centenary of the Pan American Health Organization: Report by the Secretariat. 2002. p.1). According to a PAHO document, “The fundamental purposes of the Pan American Health Organization shall be to promote and coordinate efforts of the countries of the Western Hemisphere to combat disease, lengthen life, and promote the physical and mental health of the people.”(BASIC DOCUMENTS of the Pan American Health Organization.2007. p.9) Recent Success PAHO is the oldest health organization in the world. Since its inception, it responded well to the rapidly changing political situation across the globe and, time and again, it also reoriented itself to meet the changing health scenario in the US. Though years, it has grown in clout and indeed worked hard to improve the health of the American populations. This splendid success of PAHO can be partly attributed to the exemplary style of management and astuteness of its previous directors. In recent times, PAHO has been able to keep up its tempo because of its unflinching value towards health equity as well as its increased association with technology. In recent times, the Regional Core Health Data Initiative that includes five components: the Basic Indicators brochure, a Web-enabled table generator device, a glossary, health profiles of countries, and a geographical information system, has worked wonders for PAHO. The highly sophisticated Basic Indicators brochure can quickly tabulate 58 basic indicators for 48 nations and geographical locations in the US and even for the sub regions. (Alleyne, 2000. pp.1-5) The Virtual Health Library has been instrumental in revolutionizing the connectivity that makes health information resources easily accessible. The establishment of the Virtual Health Library has received applause from various quarters for its innovativeness in making the relevant health related literature readily available for all. Moreover, in recent years PAHO has extended its technical cooperation in various programs. In some areas like in the field of immunization, this technical co-operation has led to thumping success—the America has been the first in the world to eliminate small pox and poliomyelitis. Like wise, the measles vaccination program has been extremely successful in the religion under the purview of the PAHO. The measles eradication programs were initiated in the Americas in 1994 and unprecedented success was witnessed in this regard. By the year 2001, only 537 cases of measles were reported in the Americas whereas in the same year nearly 30 million cases of measles were reported throughout the world, including 800000 cases of deaths. In addition to this, in recent times, PAHO has been associated with various programs such as the management of the communicable diseases, initiatives to lower down the rate of maternal mortality, health during the adolescence period, environmental health program, initiative to halt the epidemic of obesity, etc. Besides these, during the 1990s, efforts were made at the behest of PAHO to bolster the dental care facilities especially among the children. Moreover, the PAHO has been instrumental in the arrangement of safe blood, which has become a serious issue after the advent of the AIDS epidemic. (Alleyne, 2000. pp.1-5) Conclusion In recent times, PAHO has been able to accomplish many missions. It has collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, keeping in mind a shared agenda for the promotion of health. One of the most important reasons behind the success of PAHO has been the unwavering support it enjoyed throughout the Americas and not the least its dedicated management, dedicated work force and value-based work culture. The unbreakable unity among the work force in PAHO has made it a great organization to reckon with. The transparency in the entire organization and its programs has caught the fancies of the Americans towards PAHO. Many experts are of the view that the future of PAHO is bright. In this modern and globalized world, there is an increasing need for transnational organization like this, which exclusively deals with the health of the public. Moreover, the history of PAHO shows that throughout its life it was able to adapt with the changing situations and served the humanity in all the adverse situations. Given its remarkable history and recent sterling success, it will not be surprising if PAHO repeats its past deeds. (Alleyne, 2000. p.6) References 1. Alleyne, G. (December 2002). The Pan American Health Organization’s: Reflections of the Director. American Journal of Public Health. 92(12). Retrieved on September 15, 2000. From: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&hid=12&sid=360fa2df-1c76-4f80-8398-cc01bdccb62e%40sessionmgr11 2. BASIC DOCUMENTS of the Pan American Health Organization (2007). PAHO. Retrieved on September 15, 2000. From : http://new.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/OD_325.pdf 3. Centenary of the Pan American Health Organization : Report by the Secretariat (March 2002). WHO. Retrieved on September 15, 2000. From : http://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/WHA55/ea554.pdf 4. Fee, E and Brown, T. (December 2002). 100 Years of the Pan American Health Organization. American Journal of Public Health. 92 (12). Retrieved on September 15, 2000. From : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447347/pdf/0921888.pdf 5. Lister, S. (March 2005). An Overview of the U.S. Public Health System in the Context of Emerging Preparedness. FAS. Retrieved on September 15, 2010. from : http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL31719.pdf Read More