In
order to confront the challenges of the 21st century and the new
paradigm for sustainable development, human security and
environmental health, the Area of Sustainable Development and
Environmental Health (SDE) was established within the structure
of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Through a holistic and integrated vision of the relationship
between health and disease, SDE works to strengthen public
policies, institutions, and social mobilization for the
improvement of the quality of life of the population in the
Region of the Americas and the Caribbean.
Individual and collective health for economic growth
Health
is a singular value and also an indispensable factor for
economic growth and poverty reduction. Individual and collective
health is conditioned by the complex relationships between human
beings, their settings and their environments. This context
demands intersectoral cooperation, strengthening of local
capacities and the empowerment of social groups as strategies
for health promotion.
Vision
SDE is
a multidisciplinary team that together with other PAHO areas and
centers, conducts and catalyzes and innovative, intersectoral
and strategic effort to reduce risks to health and promote
healthy environments where people live, consume, study, work and
play as a substantial and essential element to Human Security
and Sustainable Development.
Structure
The
structure of SDE, with its management at PAHO Headquarters in
Washington, D.C., consists of three Units: Healthy Settings
(HS), Risk Assessment and Management (RA) and BAsic Sanitation
(BS/CEPIS--locted in Lima, Peru). The Institute of Nutrition of
Central America and Panama (INCAP) carries out activities in
food security for the countries of Central America and is
closely associated with SDE. The Regional Program of Action and
Demonstration of Sustainable Alternatives for Vector Control of
Malaria without the Use of DDT in Mexico and Central America (PAHO/UNEP/GEF)
is coordinated from Guatemala.