From April 14 to 17, 2025, BIREME/PAHO/WHO participated in the 1st Symposium: The Panorama of Health Education in the Municipality of São Paulo, held by the Municipal Health Secretariat (SMS-SP), through the Municipal Health School (EMS). The event brought together workers, teachers, managers and authorities from the sector to debate the challenges and advances of health education in the context of the Unified Health System (SUS).
At the opening ceremony, the Municipal Secretary of Health, Luiz Carlos Zamarco, gave the keynote address, highlighting the importance of continuous technical training as a strategy for improving care for the population. Afterwards, the Director of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, João Paulo Souza, took part in the panel of authorities alongside representatives of partner institutions, contributing the Pan American Health Organization’s perspective on innovation and digital transformation in health education.
BIREME was also present in the symposium’s technical program with Artificial Intelligence applied to health information and teaching panel, held on Wednesday (16). Specialists Francisco Barbosa Junior, Elisabeth Biruel and Juliana Sousa addressed topics such as the application of AI in production and retrieval of scientific information, the development of innovative products in the context of the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and the ethical challenges related to the use of these technologies in education and research.
The program also included the thematic exhibition “VHL: a tool for Teaching and Education in Health”, highlighting the SMS São Paulo VHL, developed under the technical cooperation agreement established between BIREME and SMS-SP. The activity highlighted the ease of access and the advantages of using reliable sources of scientific and technical information to support the work of health professionals in the municipality.
Technical cooperation
São Paulo is the city with the largest population in the Americas, with around 12 million inhabitants, more than a thousand healthcare facilities – 480 of which are exclusively dedicated to primary care – and a workforce of more than 120,000 professionals in all areas. In this scenario, strengthening continuing education and access to health information is strategic for improving the care provided to the population.
Technical cooperation between BIREME/PAHO/WHO and the São Paulo Municipal Health Secretariat (SMS-SP) was formalized in 2010, with the main objective of developing the São Paulo SMS Virtual Health Library (SMS-SP VHL). Phase II of the partnership began in 2013, focused on strengthening, developing and providing technical support for the VHL. Phase III was formalized in May 2021, and is scheduled to last until May 2025, with the aim of maintaining, updating and adding new sources of information to the SMS-SP VHL.