Press Release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health - Swearing in of Jarbas Barbosa as Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Published in Jan 31, 2023 03:00 PM Updated in Jul 03, 2023 09:57 AM

The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Health are pleased to announce that Dr. Jarbas Barbosa was sworn in today, January 31, in Washington, DC, as Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), term 2023-2028.

The Minister of Health, Nisia Trindade, led the Brazilian delegation that attended the ceremony.

A sanitarian physician and epidemiologist with a degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco and a Master's and PhD from the University of Campinas, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa has accumulated an extensive trajectory at the municipal, state, and federal levels of Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS) and also at the international level. At PAHO, he held the position of Deputy Director from 2018 to 2022 and was the Organization's spokesperson during the Covid-19 pandemic. From 2015 to 2018, he was President Director of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). At the Ministry of Health, he held prominent positions between 1994 and 2015, including Secretary of Health Surveillance and Secretary of Science and Technology. His academic career includes the publication of more than 70 scientific articles and books on various public health topics.

The Pan American Health Organization will celebrate its 120 anniversary in 2022. It is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and also acts as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to its headquarters in Washington, the WHO has 27 representations and three specialized centers in the countries of the Americas

Brazil reaffirms its long-term commitment to inter-American cooperation and solidarity in promoting the right of every person to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. It also reinforces its role in the international health arena, with the SUS serving as a worldwide reference for a universal public health system.