Brazilian Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. has been elected as the new director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), succeeding Dominican Dr. Carissa Etienne, who demits office in February next year after two five-year terms.
The Brazilian was among five persons vying for the post, including Dr. Florence Duperval Guillaume, who had been nominated by Haiti. The other candidates came from Panama, Mexico, and Uruguay.
Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. is currently the assistant director at PAHO where he has led the organization’s efforts to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and to enhance regional capacities to produce medicines and other health technologies.
He joined PAHO in 2007 as area manager for Health Surveillance and Disease Management, responsible for coordinating regional activities related to the surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases; veterinary public health; and health analysis and statistics.
His election formed part of the highlight of the ongoing 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference, where a resolution was adopted by delegates appointing Dr. Etienne as director emeritus “for her service to the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization” as of the date of her retirement.
WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu thanked Dr. Etienne for her “outstanding leadership over the past ten years,” informing the incoming director that he has “big shoes to fill.”
He said Dr. Da Silva Jr had gained the confidence of member states of the Americas in a keenly contested election.
“This is a great privilege and great responsibility, and all the support comes with serious expectation from you. The health of the region’s one billion people is in your hands,” he said, adding that the region is extremely diverse with a huge range of cultures, languages, and income levels.
“From the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the North Pacific to the South Atlantic, from megacities to urban slums…you will be faced with a huge range of health challenges…. you will assume this position at a critical time as we seek to end the pandemic,” the WHO director general said.
In her remarks, Dr. Etienne said the Brazilian now has the privilege to lead “the oldest, most prestigious public health organization in the world” and that he will work closely with member states to meet the needs of the “last person of this region.”
She thanked the delegates “for bestowing upon me from the first of February (next year) the title of director emeritus,” saying “I will bear it very proudly and I will continue to identify with this organization.
“I will keep a far distance from the management…but I will be proud to advocate on behalf of this organization as we move forward,” she said.
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