1967-2017: BIREME celebrates 50 years

In 2017, BIREME celebrates 50 years of existence. Over the last five decades it has been evolving in line with the international state of the art on scientific information and has contributed to continuously strengthening national and regional capacities to ensure visibility to scientific and technical information as well as evidence based decision making. BIREME’s technical cooperation has definitely contributed to the development of policies, programs, standards, methodologies, technologies, projects, products, services, events as well as scientific and technical information in health.

BIREME held the VI Session of its Advisory Committee

The sixth session of the BIREME Advisory Committee (AC), whose main function is to make recommendations to the Director of PAHO on the programmatic functions, based on the Strategic Plan of the Organization, Biennial Work Plan, and on the recommendations of the Scientific Committee, was held on February 2, 2017. The Committee is currently composed of representatives of Brazil (permanent member), Argentina, Jamaica, Peru, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. This session was also attended by the Assistant Director of PAHO and Acting Director of Knowledge Management, Bioethics and Research (KBR), Dr. Francisco Becerra, the Director of BIREME, Dr. Diego González, managers and supervisors.

BIREME inaugurates new premises

The Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME), in the year of its 50th anniversary, inaugurated its new facilities on February 1, 2017 in a ceremony led by Dr. Diego González, Director. The event was attended by the Assistant Director of PAHO/WHO, Dr. Francisco Becerra, representing the Director of the Organization, Dr. Carissa Etienne and the Representative of PAHO/WHO in Brazil, Dr. Joaquín Molina. Also former directors of the Center, institutional supporters, partners, guests and collaborators were present.

LILACS – the index of Latin American and Caribbean scientific output

LILACS – Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences is the index of the scientific and technical literature in health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C), regionally coordinated by the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME), which for 31 years has contributed to increasing the visibility, access and quality of information in the Region. Currently, it indexes articles from 923 journals, books, theses and non-conventional documents published in the LA&C countries, with a strong emphasis on Public Health.

PAHO/WHO Cuba and BIREME present at the Finlay and Medisur III Scientific Journals Festival

Revista Finlay, published by the Centro de Información de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Cienfuegos, Cuba, completed 30 years in 2017, and in order to celebrate this event and the 15th Anniversary of the journal Medisur, a Scientific Conference was organized at the university campus. The Director of BIREME, Dr. Diego González, attended the event, in addition to visiting the PAHO/WHO Office in Cuba and the Centro Nacional de Información en Ciencias Médicas (INFOMED), a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Knowledge Management and the Virtual Health Library, as well as other national institutions, identifying possible projects and joint initiatives, and cooperating to promote the visibility of scientific and technical information produced in the country.

BIREME supports the Evidence-Informed Policy Network in Brazil

The Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) in Brazil, since its inception in 2007, has promoted the use of scientific evidence in the formulation and implementation of health policies, the production of evidence syntheses and policy dialogues, and the national articulation of the Network member institutions and partner institutions. BIREME, as a member of the Advisory Board of EVIPNet Brasil since 2007, actively participates at the Network, collaborating with the development of syntheses of evidence for informed health policies