Author: Lilian Callo

Dr Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr was sworn in as PAHO/WHO Director on January 31 at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA. In the presence of authorities from Brazil and the region, Dr Barbosa takes office with a commitment to work to address the historic inequalities among and within countries, and to ensure recovery from the covid-19 pandemic. To this end, his mandate will be based on five strategic pillars.

The foundations of the Open Science Recommendation agreed upon at the 41^st United Nations General Conference in November 2021 include (1) making scientific knowledge open, accessible, and reusable for all; (2) increasing scientific collaboration and information sharing for the benefit of science and society; and (3) opening the process of scientific knowledge creation, evaluation, and communication to society beyond the scientific community. These themes constitute the central framework of a new scholarly communication course recently launched by BIREME.

The indigenous peoples of the Yanomami territory are experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to lack of assistance and difficulties in access to health care, which led the Ministry of Health of Brazil, through the Ordinance GM/MS n° 28 of January 20, 2023, to declare a Public Health Emergency of National Importance in the Yanomami Territory. In solidarity with this emergency, BIREME joins the mobilization actions and develops a Showcase of Knowledge in the VHL to facilitate access to scientific evidence and relevant technical information for professionals who work in the confrontation of the emergency.

The technical cooperation activities between the Ministry of Health of Brazil, through the CGDI/SAA/SE and PAHO/WHO through BIREME include the elaboration and improvement of products and services of scientific and technical information that aim to contribute to the development of the research, education, and health care systems. Recently, the cooperation between BIREME and CGDI has found an opportunity to include art allied to cultural and educational projects.

Representatives of BIREME participated in the I Curso Internacional de Bibliotecas Médicas y Promoción Científica, which occurred virtually in January 11-13. The course, promoted by the Unidad de Desarrollo de Investigación, Tecnologías y Docencia del Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño de San Borja of the Ministry of Health of Peru, aimed to develop skills and competencies in management of medical libraries.

World Leprosy Day is celebrated on the last Sunday in January. In 2023, this international day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the disease and combat stigma and discrimination related to leprosy. The theme of the 2023 campaign is “Act Now. End Leprosy”. Learn about the products and services developed by BIREME that contribute to the scientific and technical knowledge about leprosy dedicated to researchers, health professionals and people living with the disease.

The year 2022 was marked by a series of achievements and challenges for the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME/PAHO/WHO). Still under the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and in a partial remote work regime since October, BIREME has advanced in its mission to support the countries of the region with scientific and technical health information through its products and services centered on the Virtual Library in Health (VHL) and its sources of information.

Meeting on the 2022 results of TA6 and TA9 to the Term of Cooperation 95, between PAHO/WHO Brazil, through BIREME and the Ministry of Health, was held on December 15^th and 16^th. In addition, the current year’s TA4/TC93 results were also shared. The meeting was coordinated by the Director of BIREME, João Paulo Souza, who had the support of the BIREME team and Shirlei Rodrigues (CGDI Coordinator), and Sandra Cristina Teixeira (Dissemination of Technical-Scientific Information in Health), both of the General Coordination of Documentation and Information of the Secretariat of Administrative Affairs, linked to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Health of Brazil.

Following WHO guidelines in its strategy for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM), PAHO/WHO Brazil, in partnership with BIREME, held a webinar on the last December 13^th to publicize two important initiatives that contribute to the strengthening and integration of TCIM into health systems and services in the Americas and the Caribbean, and to increase the resolution and sustainability of national health systems.

The process of evaluating and selecting journals from Brazil for the Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) database is carried out annually, an activity in the context of TC93, between PAHO and the Ministry of Health of Brazil for the development and improvement of BIREME. This committee met on the last December 12^th, to carry out the last stage of the journal selection process for LILACS, which started in July 2022.