BRAZIL / SWITZERLAND – On an official visit to Brazil, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, and the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met on Monday 5 February with the president of the Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the country’s minister of health, Nísia Trindade, where they reviewed priority issues to make the country, the region and the world healthier, safer and more equitable.
The PAHO and WHO directors, together with the PAHO/WHO representative in Brazil, Socorro Gross, discussed the importance of sustainable financing for health, the fight against hunger and the production of medicines and vaccines – including support from the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds as mechanisms to facilitate cost-effective access to these products.
Another topic of discussion was the international treaty to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, which has Brazil’s strong support and leadership. The text of this agreement will be submitted for consideration by the 77th World Health Assembly in May 2024.
On Tuesday, Jarbas Barbosa and Tedros Adhanom participated in the opening of the 37th meeting of the Stop TB Partnership, a global coalition of partners dedicated to joining forces to eliminate tuberculosis.
The following day, they attended the launch by the Brazilian government of a national program to eliminate socially determined diseases – such as leprosy, malaria, trachoma, onchocerciasis, among others – and met the minister of foreign affairs, Mauro Vieira.