The 10th edition of the Regional Congress of Health Sciences Information (CRICS10) is being organized and executed by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) through the Latin American and Caribbean Center for Health Sciences Information (BIREME).
The Congress is supported by different Committees constituted by representatives of national and international institutions, in the definition of the Thematic Axes and the Scientific Program, as well as for the indication of experts from Brazil and abroad that will lead master conferences, panels and moderate sessions.
The Honor Committee is composed by the Director of the Organization, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne; Dr. Joaquín Molina, PAHO/WHO Representative in Brazil, who will be present in the opening ceremony; as well as former Directors of the Center.
The International Organizing Committee, besides disseminating the Congress internationally, promotes conditions to facilitate the participation of different countries and regions in the Congress. The following institutions are part of this Committee: the World Health Organization, represented by Ian Roberts, coordinator of Library and Information Networks; the Pan American Health Organization, represented by Jarbas Barbosa da Silva, Joint Director; and the PAHO/WHO Pan American Center for Foot-and-Mouth Disease, represented by its Director Ottorino Cosivi.
The National Organizing Committee has a relevant role in the organization of the Congress. Besides its importance in general decision-making, the member institutions follow up on the event’s implementation, support the mobilization of resources and promote the participation of representatives from national institutions. The following institutions integrate the National Organizing Committee: Municipal, state and federal government organisms with which BIREME maintains long-standing institutional relations; the Ministry of Health of Brazil, one of the main institutional supporters of BIREME since it was founded in 1967, the Secretary of Health of the State of São Paulo and the Secretary of Health of the Municipality of São Paulo, also important supporteres. Research and education institutions such as the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz and Universidade de São Paulo, the latter represented by Faculdade de Saúde Pública and Faculdade de Medicina, which are also long-standing partner institutions of the Center in technical cooperation projects; institutions from fields related to health, such as sanitation, represented by the Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (Cetesb) and the Fundação Nacional de Saúde (Funasa), executive organism of the Ministry of Health; and class associations, such as the Associação Paulista de Medicina.
The National Organizing Committee is supported by the Executive Secretariat of the CRICS in the implementation of the activities related to the organization and realization of the Congress according to its plan of action projected for the participation of 600 people coming from more than 25 countries. BIREME as the responsible entity for the Executive Secretariat of the Congress established three internal committees coordinated by the Center Area Managers. The Committees in is 10th edition of CRICS will focus on the Management and Logistics that includes the necessary local and IT infrastructure, in the Scientific Committee with all the Speakers and Submission of Posters; and in Satellite Events. In addition, the Committees also mobilized efforts to support the realization of the 7th Regional Coordination Meeting of the Virtual Health Library (VHL7) historically held prior to the CRICS. All the personnel that are part of the Committees of the Executive Secretariat of CRICS10 are available at the event website.
The Scientific Committee of CRICS10 is responsible for the elaboration of the scientific program of the Congress, the definition of the thematic axes and the identification of lecturers with renowned competence in each field. This Committee is composed principally of members of BIREME’s Scientific Committee, named by the VI Session of BIREME’s Assessing Committee, which took place on February 2nd, 2017, considering their experience in the different fields of interest of the Center: Information Management, Education and Knowledge Management, Scientific Communication and Information Technology. The Scientific Committee is composed of representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico. In addition, experts on the thematic axes of the Congress, coming from Brazil and the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, and professionals from BIREME are also part of this Committee. The job of this multidisciplinary team is to coordinate efforts in order to render the scientific program feasible, contacting potential lecturers, as well as to participate in the evaluation of the abstracts to be presented in the poster session.
All Committees operate under the leadership of the President of the Congress, Dr. Diego González, Director of BIREME. “CRICS is aligned to one of the current global priorities, Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Objectives. The technical discussions that will take place during the Congress will revolve around this theme, especially considering that the Region of the Americas was a pioneer in launching its own Sustainable Development Agenda, which also goes until 2030 and where information, evidence and knowledge are transversal axes”, states Dr. González, on one of the most important international congresses on scientific health information and communication, and which aims to present and debate on the regional and international state of the art in this field.