Brazil’s Barbosa new head of PAHO
Published:Thursday | September 29, 2022 | 12:11 AM
Brazilian Dr Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr has been elected the new director general of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
He was elected on Wednesday during the 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference from a batch of six candidates.
Barbosa succeeds Haitian Dr Carissa Etienne, who served as PAHO director general for two terms, having first been elected in September 2012.
She was elected to her second consecutive stint five years ago.
Barbosa will take office on February 1, 2023, and will serve as director for a five-year term before being given a re-election option.
Barbosa, who defeated Panamanian Dr Camilo Alleyne after four rounds of voting, is currently the assistant director at PAHO.
He is credited with leading the organisation’s efforts to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and enhance regional capacities to produce medicines and other health technologies.
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton congratulated Barbosa and shared Jamaica’s commitment to supporting PAHO’s new director general.
“We appreciate the need for strong leadership at the regional level coming on the heels of COVID-19 and so many other health threats that currently exist. We appreciate that the transition, given his experience at the highest level of PAHO, will be quick and we would like to encourage that,” Tufton said.
PAHO is the specialised health agency of the Inter-American System and serves as the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas.