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June 23, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Child Health Initiative Launched in Americas”

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (06/20/03); Zwillich, Todd

The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) has entered a three-year agreement to collaborate on a child healthcare initiative with the Catholic Medical Missions Board.  PAHO officials said the cooperative effort would allow other international public health efforts direct access to hospitals and clinics operated by the Catholic Church in areas such as El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  PAHO will provide $4 million to expand health worker training, hire more personnel and purchase nevirapine, a drug that helps prevent the transmission of HIV in pregnant women to their children.  PAHO statistics show that infectious diseases and malnutrition cause approximately two-thirds of the 500,000 annual deaths among children under five years of age, and officials plan to monitor childhood disease patterns during the three-year initiative.