GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever would like to congratulate the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on its 110th anniversary which was marked on December 2.
Minister De Weever stated that he was very proud that Sint Maarten had joined and is associated with the organization. The country was admitted during the 28th Pan American Sanitary Conference in September as an associate member.
The request for admission was presented on 15 August 2012 by the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a PAHO Participating State and responsible for Sint Maarten's foreign affairs.
Sint Maarten being an associate member of PAHO enables the country to participate directly in PAHO activities; have the right to participate in Governing bodies meetings, albeit with no vote; to participate with voice and vote in technical commissions or committees; to have access to all technical cooperation services of PAHO; and to receive information and documentation produced or distributed by PAHO.
PAHO and its member countries in the Americas have achieved major health milestones as the eradication of smallpox and polio and the elimination of endemic transmission of measles and rubella.
During the past century, life expectancy in the hemisphere has gained nearly three decades, infant and maternal mortality have declined significantly, water and sanitation services have expanded, and the gaps in health between rich and poor have narrowed.
PAHO began life as the International Sanitary Bureau, created by the representatives of 11 countries who met at the First General International Sanitary Convention of the Americas Republics, on December 02, 1902, in Washington, D.C.
Today, in the 21st century, PAHO continues to facilitate international health cooperation, not only among the countries of the Americas but also with countries form other developing and developed regions. Much as it did in the early 20th century, PAHO today contributes to the control of infectious diseases by coordinating member countries' compliance with the International Health Regulations, the global framework for international health security.
PAHO also provides broad-ranging technical cooperation, in areas including pharmaceutical regulation, gender and health, mental and environmental health, integrated health care, and health planning and policymaking, among many others.
Sint Maarten being an associate member is now subjected to the obligations and rights set out in PAHO's rules and regulations, which include the obligation to pay a financial contribution directly to the Organization.