BIREME Bulletin n° 63

The American Library Association awarded the prestigious “Choice” award to the World Health Organization (WHO) Research Database on COVID-19 (WHO COVID-19 Research Database) “in recognition of value, quality, and scope that would not have been possible without the tireless dedication and determination of those involved”. BIREME/PAHO/WHO has made a key contribution to the development of the global database of scientific literature on COVID-19, which uses the same platform developed by the Center for the Global Index Medicus.

Within the framework of the new technical cooperation agreement between PAHO/WHO to be carried out by BIREME/PAHO/OMS and the Municipal Health Secretariat of São Paulo, the Meeting of the VHL SMS São Paulo with the Municipal Health Care Network of São Paulo took place on December 9^th, which aimed to present the VHL SMS-SP and share with the network the Cooperation Agreement to strengthen the VHL SMS São Paulo.

Paraguay is the newest country with its own e-BlueInfo collection, joining Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru. On December 13^th, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, through the Directorate of Primary Health Care and the National Institute of Health in the role of National Coordinating Center of the Virtual Health Library in Paraguay, carried out the official launch of the e-BlueInfo application in the country.

The 21^st edition of the National Seminar on University Libraries (SNBU, in its Portuguese acronym) was held virtually on December 7^th to 10^th, under the theme “University Library: tradition, practices, and innovations” and had more than 500 participants and a varied scientific program, with representatives of libraries and institutions in the field of librarianship and information science. The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with BIREME/PAHO/WHO, had a virtual stand, covering the VHL Brazil and BiblioSUS networks, with a focus on methodologies, products, and services developed for the management, access, and dissemination of scientific and technical information in health.

Between 2021 and 2022, the Pan American Journal of Public Health will implement a series of actions to commemorate its 100 years of life, a special celebration to precede the 120^th anniversary of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and its continuous work in favor of health in the Americas. Learn about the history and evolution of the publication that began in 1922 as the Boletín Panamericano de Sanidad (Pan-American Health Bulletin) and is today one of the main Public Health journals in the Region. A commemorative website features historical articles, testimonies, a timeline, and relevant information about the official PAHO publication.

BIREME held its traditional end-of-year celebration virtually, for the second consecutive year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Per tradition, the main part of the event consists of the presentation by the acting Director and managers of the technical and administrative areas reporting the main results of the year. In addition, the activity “Our photos, our stories” was carried out, which aimed to bring people closer, and identify the positive moments experienced in 2021.