The year 2017 was very busy for the Governance Committees, since they both held their meetings and effectively contributed for strengthening BIREME as a PAHO/WHO Specialized Center. The 6th Session of the Advisory Committee took place on February 2017, and was attended by PAHO/WHO representatives from Brazil and five country members: Argentina, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. The 3rd Session of the Scientific Committee was held in December and had representatives from six countries: Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Brazil. Both meetings were attended by PAHO/WHO Assistant Director, Francisco Becerra.
Author: Lilian Callo
BIREME’s main achievements in 2017
In 2017, BIREME celebrated its 50th Anniversary as a PAHO/WHO Specialized Center, with the mission of democratizing health information, knowledge and scientific evidence. One of this year’s most important achievements is related to its institutional strengthening and its effective work with Latin American and Caribbean countries, marked by its presence in the Region and the development of technical cooperation projects, products and services.
BIREME holds the Third Session of its Scientific Committee
The 3rd Session of the Scientific Committee of BIREME took place on December 7-8, with the presence of the PAHO/WHO Assistant Director and experts from six countries, besides a consultant with experience in health services management. The recommendations that emerged from the discussions and a final report are being drafted and will be submitted to PAHO/WHO Director. The main role of the Scientific Committee is to make recommendations on the Center’s programmatic functions, in compliance with international state-of-the-art scientific information and communication.
BIREME identifies ways to increase the use of evidence in health decision-making processes
The workshop “Evidence to support decision-making processes in health”, organized by BIREME, was designed to identify opportunities and generate recommendations of activities, products and services related to information, in order to promote access, use and application of evidence in health decisions. Several recommendations to support managers and decision makers were put forward during the event.
Resource mobilization is the focus of ERP capacity building at BIREME
In order to strengthen capacities for resource mobilization in country offices, PAHO/WHO through its External Relations, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Department (ERP) together with BIREME organized the “Subregional Workshop for Institutional Strengthening in Project Development and Management, Resource Mobilization and Political Advocacy”, on November 27-29, 2017. The event had more than thirty participants from Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as from PAHO Specialized Centers, BIREME and PANAFTOSA.
Communication focal points of PAHO/WHO align work strategies
Based on the recently approved PAHO/WHO Strategic Communication Plan 2017-19, communication focal points of Representations and Centers met at PAHO Headquarters on December 5-8, aiming to enhance capacity, effectiveness and impact of communication actions in the countries, in addition to coordinating the individual capacities of those in charge of communication to achieve certain objectives common to the entire Organization.
BIREME focuses on teamwork and organizational climate
In 2017, BIREME, together with PAHO/WHO Human Resources Department, held two training activities involving all employees. The events took place outside BIREME’s facilities, leading to everyone’s effective participation and effort in reflecting themes and actions that characterize a real teamwork. Managerial and operational staff took part aiming to respond to changes in the organizational environment and in activities of the technical cooperation program.
Launch of BRISA – Regional Database for the Assessment of Health Technologies Reports of the Americas
The Regional Database for the Assessment of Health Technologies Reports of the Americas is a technological platform; its methodology to register, organize and disseminate reports was developed by BIREME, together with PAHO/WHO Department of Health Systems and Services. BRISA has initially more than 600 online Health Technology Assessment reports from nine countries in the region. Methodologies for information indexing and retrieval enable recovering the reports by theme, author, or keywords.
Quality information for nursing teams
As from 2005, the International Nursing Virtual Health Library has promoted equity in access to quality scientific and technical information on nursing and related themes from the region of the Americas, through collaboration of a network of organizations that produce information. Representatives of some countries that work together to build the VHL Nursing met at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, in Lima, Peru, in September 2017, during the XI Reunión Internacional de la Red BVS Enfermería, to discuss the advances of the project.
Cooperation to strengthen Traditional Medicine and Complementary Therapies
In the Americas and around the world, there is an increased demand for health services that offer therapeutic alternatives that respond to the cultural and social contexts of individuals, families and communities with an intercultural approach. That is why, as part of an interprogrammatic project, PAHO/WHO is advancing the development of a Virtual Library that aims to promote visibility, access, use and generation of scientific, technical and educational content that contributes to the promotion, development and integration of the Traditional Medicine and Complementary Therapies in the services and health systems of LA&C.