PAHO brings together health authorities from the Americas for its 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference
| Delegates will discuss policies to improve mental health, strengthen genomic surveillance, and recover progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, among other issues. The Conference will also elect next PAHO Director. |
| Washington, D.C., 21 September 2022 (PAHO/WHO) – Ministers of Health and other high-level representatives from countries and territories of the Americas will meet from 26-30 September in Washington, D.C., for the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference. The Pan American Sanitary Conference is the Organization’s highest decision-making body, meeting every five years to determine general policies of the Organization to improve the health and well-being of the population in the region. The conference will open on Monday, September 26 at 9.00 a.m., with the participation of the PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez, President of Dominica Charles Savarin, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Secretary-General of the OAS Luis Almagro, and the Minister of Public Health and Social Well-being of Paraguay and outgoing president of the Pan American Sanitary Conference, Julio Borba. On Wednesday, 28 September, PAHO Member and Participating States will elect the next Director of the Organization via secret ballot. The person who receives the most votes will be appointed to lead PAHO for the next five years, taking office on 1 February 2023. Sessions, side events and the election can be followed live at: https://www.paho.org/en/governing-bodies The preliminary program is available here. Press accreditation The Conference will take place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, located at 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC 20008. Journalists are invited to attend in-person, however due to COVID-19 mitigation protocols, space for media in the main conference room is limited. Journalists can also follow the sessions and side-events virtually. Journalists who wish to attend in person should send name, surname, media outlet, photo ID/passport number, and telephone number to [email protected] by 23 September. Badges can be collected at the Omni Shoreham Hotel from 08.00 a.m. on Monday 26 September upon presentation of a photo ID. A press working area will be available. To ensure the health and safety of all participants at the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference, all attendees, including journalists, must wear a mask, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and conduct a self-test daily before attending te Conference, under the honor system. Preliminary Program includes: Monday 26 September 09:00 – 11:00 – Opening 13:00 – 14:00 – Side event: Joint Action to Strengthen the Health Workforce in the Americas: Americas Health Corps 14:30 – 18:00 – Policy for Recovering Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals with Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health and Intersectoral Work Tuesday 27 September 8:00 – 8:45 – Update on monkeypox in the Americas 12:30 – 2:30 – Side event: Leveraging Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic to Address the Region’s Mental Health Challenges for the Future Wednesday 28 September 9:00 – 12:30 – Election of the next Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, PAHO’s executive body 14:30 – 17:30 – Update on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas Thursday, 29 September 09:00-18:00 – Presentation of final reports on strategies and plans of action on psychoactive substance use and public health, epilepsy, reducing the harmful use of alcohol, urban health, and disaster risk reduction Friday, 1 October 14:30 – 18:00 – 171st Session of the PAHO Executive Committee |
