BIREME launches a new customized information product for Virtual Health Library (VHL) users. This new functionality is called MyVHL and stores information and preferences of users to provide customized services, such collections of selected documents, defining themes of interest to receive alerts of new documents, history of previous searches, list of favorite links, and users’ own publications.
Health in the Americas has been the most relevant publication of PAHO/WHO, uninterruptedly produced and issued since 1956. The 2017 edition brings a future vision that will allow defining actions to strengthen the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). One of these actions is entitled “Public Health in the Information Society” and relies on the tradition, knowledge, experience and leadership of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, strengthened by the support of a network of health sciences information institutions and experts, that support PAHO/WHO member countries to achieve the SDG.
Gerald Anderson, the PAHO/WHO Director of Administration, was at BIREME/PAHO/WHO at the beginning of August 2017, within the context of celebrations of its 50th Anniversary, which contributed towards strengthening the operations and the administrative and institutional management of the Center. It was concluded that the new institutional mark and the new facilities characterize and identify the specificity of its governance and operation, sustainable for five decades, especially due to the cooperative work with 37 countries and 2,000 organizations inside and out of the Region.
Scientific writing is complex and obeys to strict rules, and it is not an easy task to write a scientific document. Researchers, however, are substantially compensated for their efforts, since the publications and resulting impact have become proxy of quality, credibility, and career progression. With the objective of stimulating the dissemination of projects of Fundação Nacional de Saúde (FUNASA) and their results in the form of scientific and technical articles, a course was given on theoretical and practical training in scientific communication topics for the foundation’s team.
The selection processes of LILACS journals are periodically discussed and evaluated by the team of coordinators from the countries that integrate the Latin-American and Caribbean (LA&C) network. This process contributes to amplify the visibility of the literature published in the Region, consolidating and simultaneously standardizing the selection criteria of the evaluation processes of journals, by means of a regular calendar of virtual meetings with the coordinators of national and thematic networks
The joint work developed by PAHO/WHO Brazil and BIREME/PAHO/WHO in the major public health events in the country is an opportunity to fulfill the mission of democratizing health information, and reporting the Center´s activities of delivering scientific and technical information in health to end-users. Two recent events for professionals of the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) and Municipal Health Secretaries highlighted the work of BIREME in the cities.
The National and Sub-regional Coordination Office of PAHO/WHO promotes effective technical cooperation for a group of countries that the Member States of the Organization identified as deserving special attention to reach their individual and collective objectives of health development – the so-called Key Countries. A meeting in Washington DC, in July 2017, had the goal of reviewing and defining the actions, interventions, criteria and indicators to implement the operational plan for the Key Country Strategy.
BIREME participated at the “Regional consultation to develop a knowledge sharing mechanism for non-communicable diseases and vector borne diseases for CARPHA Member States”. The event was attended by representatives of the English-speaking Caribbean countries and held in Trinidad & Tobago. On the occasion, there was also a workshop at the University of the West Indies (UWI) with the aim of revitalizing the database MEDCARIB. These actions are within the context of the project between BIREME and CARPHA for the development of CARPHA EvIDeNCe Portal.
The Formal Regional Consultation about the International Health Regulations (IHR) was conducted from July 17th to 19th in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event was coordinated by the PAHO Preparedness for Health Emergencies Program (PHE), under the leadership of Dr Ciro Ugarte and Dr Roberta Andraghetti, in coordination with PAHO/WHO Brazil, and had the support of BIREME in the local organization. More than 80 specialists attended, representing 30 Member Countries of the Organization.
The visit of BIREME Director, Dr Diego González, to the Pan-American Foot and Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA) in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, aimed to strengthen the joint work between PAHO/WHO Specialized Centers located in Brazil that work at regional level. Management of information and scientific and technical knowledge in zoonoses and food-transmitted diseases were also addressed during the visit.