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Improving the Health of
the People of the
Americas
The Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO),
regional office of the
World Health
Organization, works with
all the countries of the
Americas to improve the
health of their people.
I became deputy director
of PAHO in April, after
serving as acting
assistant secretary of
health in the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services and
assistant surgeon
general in the U.S.
Public Health Service.
I
was born in Cuba, left
on a Red Cross
humanitarian flight
because I was sickly,
grew up in Panama and
moved to New Mexico when
I was 14 years old. In
Albuquerque, I studied
hard, got a medical
degree from the
University of New Mexico,
and worked my way up to
become medical director
of the University of New
Mexico Health Sciences
Center.
In
my experience, education
is the first thing
Latinas need to become
someone in today’s
society. I tell everyone:
stay in school, study,
stay involved with your
kids even if you’re a
single mother like me,
and believe in God and
family. Success will
come to you.
Latinas in the United
States have incredible
opportunities, if they
take advantage of their
strengths and talents
and avoid falling into a
“victim” mentality. I
encourage women to go
into health and public
policy to help people
with an important
concern, their health.
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Cristina V. Beato, M.D.,
is deputy director of
the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO),
regional office of the
World Health
Organization |
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At
PAHO, we work to expand
primary health care and
public health in all
countries and to reduce
health disparities,
concentrating on
prevention, care, and
education and working in
partnerships between the
public and private
sectors. Along with our
director, Dr. Mirta
Roses of Argentina, I
help set policy and
strategic direction and
oversee key areas of the
work of our organization,
which was founded in
1902. I am responsible
for relations between
PAHO and the governments
of Canada, Puerto Rico,
and the United States.
I
decided to become a
doctor when I was 8
years old, and went to
the emergency room for a
broken ankle. A girl my
age came in to the
hospital in Panama,
crying, with a bad
machete wound, but they
just kept her sitting
there. After that, I
didn’t want to be one of
the nurses—I wanted to
be the person in charge.
I
first heard about PAHO
when I was a child and
met a woman who had a
rural clinic in Panama,
and was partnering with
the “Organización
Panamericana de Salud”
to vaccinate children. I
helped her clean up and
do bandaging, and
realized that this
touched people’s lives.
My
medical studies
confirmed that
immunization is the best
available health
intervention. In the U.S.
it’s been a huge success.
Throughout the Americas
PAHO’s crown jewel is
our immunization program,
which eradicated
smallpox and polio,
eliminated measles
transmission, and is now
working to eradicate
rubella. It has saved
countless lives and
avoided much disease,
and now we are helping
countries access new
vaccines, like those
against rotavirus,
pneumococcus, and HPV,
which causes cervical
cancer.
The way you get to
people is by touching
their lives, by
delivering something on
the ground. PAHO can
have an incredible
impact in Latin America
and Latino communities
in the U.S. I really
believe in training. You
need to empower
communities, and the way
you do that is by making
them independent,
entrepreneurial, provide
the tools, and teaching
them how to be their own
best providers.
Our main challenge for
the Americas now is
chronic disease. In the
next 10 years it’s going
to put an incredible
burden on longevity,
quality of life and our
economic systems that
are already struggling
to compete in the global
economy. Diabetes,
cardiovascular disease,
and cancers will create
huge burdens on our
societies and we have to
conquer them to keep
Latinos healthy.
The other key is
education, whether it’s
learning how to read or
write, health literacy
is important in every
community. We have to
teach people why they
have to take two pills a
day for all 10 days,
that clean water is
critical, or why breast
feeding is important. So
education, health
promotion, access to
public health and basic
health services delivery,
and supporting
opportunities for free
market economic
development are all
crucial. Latinas can
help by getting involved,
studying and working
hard, as I did, to keep
improving the health of
all our people.
By
Cristina V. Beato |
