Ministers of Health, including those from the Caribbean, agreed on a collective approach to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean by the year 2030.
According to CMC News, the Ministers reached the agreement during the 57th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) taking place in the US this week.
The PAHO Disease Elimination Initiative: A Policy for an Integrated Sustainable Approach to Communicable Diseases in the Americas targets a list of diseases considered to be prime candidates for elimination, including HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C, schistosomiasis, trachoma, Chagas disease, malaria, cholera, human rabies and others.
PAHO’s Director, Dr Carissa F Etienne said “Beyond the human cost on individuals, families and communities, communicable diseases also have a huge economic impact on health systems.”
