Teams from BIREME, the Ministry of Health, PAHO Brazil and experts in the preservation of collections met in São Paulo to define the 2025-2026 work plan for the implementation of technical cooperation for the Pandemic Memorial, which will bring together documents, artistic productions, interviews, testimonies and bibliographical references on COVID-19.
Super Summaries and DeCS Finder AI were presented at the Kigali Grand Challenges AI Community Convening and the Global AI Summit on Africa in Rwanda. Developed by BIREME to boost the digital transition of VHL products and services, both stand out for operating with specialized language models and accessible infrastructure.
How can science, ancestral knowledge and digital transformation be combined for the benefit of public health? This was the proposal put forward by João Paulo Souza, director of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, during the ‘Knowledge for Care’ seminar, held on April 8 and 9 in São Paulo, as part of the SESC Inspira program, which celebrates World Health Day with educational and cultural activities at its units.
The latest version of the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS), maintained by BIREME/PAHO/WHO, is now available for consultation on the DeCS portal. Updated annually for the past 39 years, the vocabulary reflects the translation of the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and includes 206 new descriptors, emphasizing artificial intelligence, public health, and inclusive terminology. Discover the updates in the 2025 edition of DeCS.
BIREME took part in an event coordinated by SMS-SP, which included the participation of director João Paulo Souza and PAHO’s perspective on innovation and digital transformation in health education. In the panel on Artificial Intelligence applied to information products, the team led a session on the VHL as a tool to support the continuing education of SUS workers.
From April 24 to 30, the 2025 Immunization Week was celebrated worldwide under the theme “Immunization for all is humanly possible.” Promoted in the Americas by PAHO/WHO as Vaccination Week in the Americas, the campaign aims to strengthen trust in vaccines and expand their coverage across all stages of life. On the VHL, the VWA 2025 Window of Knowledge gathers documents to support decision-making and promote equitable access to immunization.
In March 2025, BIREME/PAHO/WHO turns 58, reaffirming its strategic role in the digital transformation of health information with advances in artificial intelligence (AI), regional cooperation and equitable access to scientific knowledge, consolidating itself as a benchmark in health information management in the Americas.
The Virtual Health Library (VHL) celebrates its 27th anniversary, consolidating itself as a strategic model for health information management in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C). To mark the date, BIREME is reaffirming its commitment to the VHL Network, with actions aimed at modernizing and integrating national instances into the VHL Regional Portal, promoting more equitable and representative access to scientific information in the region.
In March, on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of BIREME and the 27th anniversary of the VHL, the 2025 Calendar of technical meetings of the VHL, LILACS and MedCarib Networks was launched, reinforcing regional cooperation, innovation in health information and equitable access to scientific knowledge in Latin America and the Caribbean. The meetings reinforce priorities such as technological innovation, strengthening networks and the use of evidence for decision-making.
The new National Health Economics and Development Portal marks the renewal of the Health Economics VHL (ECOS VHL) and its full integration into the Health Economics Network (ECOS Network). The initiative aims to provide managers, researchers and citizens with information that contributes to the efficient allocation of resources in Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS). Published in December 2024, the portal strengthens the ECOS Network, expands access to qualified information and boosts collaboration between specialists in the field.