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The tenth Session of the Advisory Committee of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, which took place virtually on October 7, 2021, had as its main objectives, once again, to hold the annual session and effectuate the exchange and communication with the members of the Committee; report on the progress of the Center’s management and technical cooperation activities, based on the recommendations made in 2020; and strengthen BIREME’s institutional framework in Brazil and with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Virtual Health Library of Nicaragua (Nicaragua VHL) was launched in an online/in presence event on October 26, promoted by the Vice Dean of Education, Directorate of the UNAN-Managua Library System in partnership with the PAHO Nicaragua Representation and had the participation of BIREME/PAHO/WHO. The initiative will contribute to increasing the availability and visibility of scientific and technical production in health in the country.

An article on MedCarib Database that BIREME contributed with has been recently published in the Caribbean Library Journal reporting and analyzing its main achievements and challenges, based on Trinidad and Tobago’s perspective. Trinidad and Tobago together with Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and other English-speaking Caribbean countries participate on the strengthening and maintenance of MedCarib database.

On October 20, the 15^th anniversary of the Virtual Health Library Network of Information and Knowledge (RIC VHL) was held via web conference. The RIC VHL is the result of the Technical-Scientific Information Management Project carried out in 2006 by the São Paulo State Department of Health (SES-SP) in partnership with BIREME/PAHO/WHO, with the objective of contributing to the strengthening of information and scientific and technical knowledge in health management in the state of São Paulo, using the VHL model.

The PAHO/WHO calendar of health dates is intended to save lives, increase the well-being and raise awareness about the main diseases that affect the populations of the Americas. BIREME offers specialized scientific and technical literature, selected from the databases that make up the VHL, on many of the health conditions listed in the calendar. Recently, new methodologies such as the Windows of Knowledge join the strategies developed by the Center to support the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of these diseases.

The BIREME Director Transfer process that took place on October 27 and 28 formalized the end of Diego González’s term as Director of the Center and the appointment of Sebastián García, Director of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH) of PAHO/WHO as Interim Director. On October 29th, employees of the Center gathered on a Zoom meeting to say goodbye to Diego González in a special edition of Café com Ideias.

Diego González Machín, employee of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and who serves as Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME/PAHO/WHO) since August 2016, will retire on October 31, 2021. The purpose of this article is to honor Diego González and celebrate the five years of his tenure.

The Seventh Session of the Scientific Committee (SC) of BIREME/PAHO/WHO was held virtually on September 30th with two main objectives: (i) to report on the progress of the Center’s management and technical cooperation activities based on the recommendations made in 2020; and (ii) generate an exchange among SC members to obtain new recommendations with a view to improving the visibility and quality of BIREME’s products and services for Latin America and the Caribbean. The SC is one of BIREME’s Governance Committees in addition to the Advisory Committee.

The 35 years of the Health Sciences Descriptors – DeCS were celebrated in an online event promoted by BIREME/PAHO/WHO. The ceremony had the simultaneous participation of more than 300 people from several countries of the region and some of the actors who contributed with BIREME to write the successful history of DeCS, with the support of PAHO and alliances with institutions in Brazil, Chile, Spain, the United States, and France. DeCS is the main controlled vocabulary for indexing and retrieving published scientific and technical literature on health in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The annual sessions of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Directing Council bring together health ministers and high-level delegates from their Member States or Latin American and Caribbean countries to discuss and analyze policies and establish priorities for joint technical cooperation and collaboration. The 59^th Session was held virtually from September 20^th to 24^th. The following is a brief summary of the main topics discussed at this session, and in particular BIREME’s participation as a Specialized Center of the Organization.