On a recent mission to India, BIREME Director João Paulo Souza participated in a WHO technical meeting on the use of artificial intelligence to accelerate the integration of Traditional Medicine into national health systems. The progress of the WHO Global Library of Traditional Medicine, developed by BIREME using a Scrum approach, and the creation of a global user community were presented.
BIREME and Brazil’s Ministry of Health have set up a Directing Committee responsible for the technical cooperation projects “Updating the Second Formative Opinion Program” and “Decision Aids”. This committee is responsible for guiding the coordination of the development of these initiatives aimed at supporting decision-making in health. The Technical-Scientific Committee for these projects will also be set up shortly, establishing essential governance bodies for carrying out the activities.
BIREME is adopting a strategy focused on technological innovation, prioritizing agile methodologies and solutions that directly meet the needs of users. Among the innovations under development are the generation of texts by artificial intelligence, automatic document indexing tools, the incorporation of Large Language Models into the VHL and content personalization. The use of these technologies aims to optimize the user experience, improve access to information and increase the efficiency of BIREME’s processes.
At the PAHO Brazil booth, BIREME presented products and services dedicated to supporting the decision-making of managers, researchers, and health workers on issues related to tropical medicine. The 59th MEDTROP Congress, held in São Paulo in September, promoted essential discussions on tropical and neglected diseases, reinforcing the need for an integrated and multisectoral approach, as advocated by the “One Health” concept.
Held virtually on August 29, 2024, the XIII Session of the BIREME Advisory Committee was attended by members representing PAHO and four countries from Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Cuba, Chile, and Trinidad and Tobago. The 2023 results and the developments of the 2024-2025 Biennial Work Plan were acknowledged, with a focus on the implementation of the 2023-2025 Strategy and the incorporation of advanced technologies in health information products and services.
The 10th Session of the BIREME/PAHO/WHO Scientific Committee was held on August 27, 2024. The main objective of this session was to present and discuss BIREME’s work plan for 2024-2025, aligned with the BIREME Strategy 2023-2025 “Towards Information Industry 4.0”. Recommendations highlight priorities for health information, including the incorporation of broad language models and the personalization of products and services.
During his visit to BIREME, Sebastián García Saisó, Director of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH) at PAHO, participated in the Governance Committee sessions and a series of strategic meetings focused on the implementation of the 2023-2025 Strategy. Throughout the week, discussions with the Center’s teams centered on the ongoing digital transformation projects and the work priorities for the coming years.
In the first half of 2024, team members revisited the expected results and realigned the work plan for the implementation of the project for a national instance of the Virtual Health Library (VHL) for Indigenous Health in Brazil. Recent activities include the development of new strategies, a partnership with Fiocruz, and the scheduled launch of a new portal expected for the second half of 2024.
The Mpox Window of Knowledge has been updated to provide up-to-date and reliable information in response to the WHO’s recent declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) related to the increase in Mpox cases. This resource is essential to support disease surveillance, preparedness and response in the Region of the Americas.
In September, BIREME promotes World Alzheimer’s Month, an international campaign to raise awareness of dementia and tackle stigma. In 2024, PAHO once again joins the associations dedicated to the cause, together with all those involved in treatment, care and support for people living with dementia in the Region of the Americas and around the world. See details in the article.