Brazil To Host WHO Meeting in
2011
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil will host a meeting
of the World Health Organization (WHO) next
year on the goals of the contemporary public
healthcare sector, the country's Health
Minister Jose Gomes Temporao announced on
Tuesday.
The conference will take place in Rio, most
likely in October 2011, the minister said.
"Our idea is to make this meeting a second
Alma-Ata," he said, referring to the
International Conference on Primary Health
Care (PHC) which took place in Kazakhstan in
September 1978. On that occasion,
representatives from all over the world
expressed the need for urgent action to
promote the health of all mankind.
Temporao also commented on Brazil's
nationwide campaign of vaccination against
the H1N1 flu, which started in March and was
supposed to end last Friday. The campaign
was extended until June 2 in order to
include children aged two to five years old
in the immunized age groups.
According to the minister, the share of the
population vaccinated against the disease in
Brazil is high when compared to some other
countries. He said that he was surprised
with the Europeans' resistance to the
vaccine in a recent trip to Geneva.
"The European press kept asking me how we
managed to immunize millions of people
against H1N1 flu in Brazil. No one wanted to
take the vaccine there," he said.
According to a report released by the Health
Ministry last week, over 61 million
Brazilians have already been immunized
against H1N1 flu. The figures represent 70
percent of the ministry's goal for the
campaign. |
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