Author: Lilian Callo

The Virtual Health Library, that completed 25 years in 2023, was presented in the 2023 Annual Conference of the Medical Library Association (MLA) held in collaboration with the Special Libraries Association (SLA) on topics on medical librarianship, like leadership and management. The event took place in Detroit, Michigan, on May 16-19 with hybrid participation. Sharing global health and equity projects, experiences, challenges, and successes from around the world was its focus.

With a core theme aligned to BIREME’s new strategy, the International Congress on Primary Health Care 2023 was held in person at the Federal University of Piauí, with online broadcasting. The program included lectures by João Paulo Souza, Director, and Verônica Abadla, Information Source Manager at BIREME. Pre-congress workshops and technical visits were also on the team’s agenda.

In the framework of the agreement established between the Municipal Health Secretariat of São Paulo (SMS – São Paulo) and BIREME/PAHO/WHO since 2011, check the progress and results obtained with the completion of the second year of phase III.

Considering that cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, are the main cause of death in the Americas, PAHO created the HEARTS in the Americas Initiative, led by the Ministries of Health with the participation of local actors. The objective is to promote the adoption of global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases and to improve the performance of services through better control of hypertension and promotion of secondary prevention with an emphasis on primary health care.

In recent visit to Brazil, Dr. Sebastián Garcia Saisó, director of EIH/OPS, met with the BIREME team, representatives of the Ministry of Health and the University of São Paulo, to discuss innovation projects that promote access to technologies and the reduction of health inequities.

The sessions on Best Practices in the Editorial Processes of Scientific Journals for LILACS, in its 5th consecutive year, promote knowledge of key themes of the editorial process to improve the quality, positioning and visibility of journals in health sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean indexed in LILACS. The first webinar of the series, held on April 19, addressed the theme ‘How scientific journals contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’. 

World Health Day, celebrated each year on April 7, marks the founding anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 and each year focuses on a specific public health concern. In addition to focusing on ways to achieve Health for All, which is this year’s theme, WHO celebrated its 75th anniversary under the theme “75 years improving Public Health”. Join the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the WHO on this journey to achieve Health for All. 

Under the call to action “Get Up-to-Date #EachVaccineCounts,” the 2023 Vaccination Week in the Americas promoted revitalization of national immunization programs and regional goals for disease control and elimination, fostering confidence in vaccines at all ages, and reinforcements to maintain polio elimination in the Region.

On March 3, 2023, the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME/PAHO/WHO) completes 56 years of uninterrupted activity and highlights its main results in the last 12 months. By proposing a debate that will lead to the development of a 2023-2025 Cooperation Strategy, BIREME strengthens and repositions itself as a Center of Evidence for Action in Health.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1998, the Latin American and Caribbean Health Information Network approved the Declaration of San José “Towards the Virtual Health Library”. Since then, BIREME has been leading the development of the VHL model as a PAHO/WHO technical cooperation strategy in health information and knowledge management for Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions.