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OAS Secretary General Receives Representatives of Campaign to Eradicate Tropical Diseases

  May 7, 2013

OAS Secretary General Receives Representatives of Campaign to Eradicate Tropical Diseases
Photo: OAS

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, met today with the Mayor of Guatemala City, Alvaro Arzú, and the former Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Mirta Roses, who are in Washington, DC to promote a campaign to eradicate lesser known tropical diseases.

Mayor Arzú, former President of Guatemala (1996 – 2000), and Doctor Roses were accompanied by the Managing Director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Neeraj Mistry, who explained to the OAS leader the details of the campaign that his institute is leading to give visibility to these illnesses and gain the support of global health organizations in their struggle to eradicate them. In the case of neglected tropical diseases, he said, they affect "about 1.4 billion people in the world," causing "serious public health consequences."

The meeting, which was held in the office of the Secretary General in the city of Washington, DC, was attended by the Secretary of External Relations of the OAS, Alfonso Quiñonez, and representatives of the office of the Mayor of Guatemala City.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: FNE-12045