BIREME Bulletin n° 2

The presence of BIREME in Latin America and the Caribbean has traditionally been marked by the instances of the Virtual Health Library (VHL), which is present in over 30 countries. Dr Diego González Machín, Director of BIREME, continues to drive forward the technical cooperation actions of BIREME at national and regional levels, by means of joint activities conducted with PAHO/WHO Offices and the countries’ National institutions in the Region, starting in Colombia, Panama and Mexico. The joint work was also carried out in an official mission to Washington D.C., US, at the PAHO/WHO HQ.

Scholarly communication, as science itself, evolves rapidly and it is necessary to follow and understand such changes. In this regard, the Office of the Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) through its bodies BIREME and Library and Information Networks, both from the Area of Knowledge Management, Bioethics and Research (KBR) train researchers, health professionals, decision makers and students in current topics of scientific communication and writing through face-to-face courses in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Since 2007, in the early days of the Brazil Telehealth Program, BIREME/PAHO/WHO has been cooperating with the Ministry of Health to promote and facilitate the use of scientific knowledge in Primary Health Care (PHC) through Telehealth services. The program addresses relevant topics to PHC and it is designed to clear up doubts and meet the needs of other healthcare professionals, aiming to enhance the resolution capacity in similar cases or situations. It is a knowledge translation initiative, also applied to the São Paulo City Networks Telehealth Program.