The 11th World Congress on Public Health - Rio de Janeiro (2006)
The 11th World Congress on Public Health took place August 21 –25, 2006 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) worked in partnership with its Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) to host the Congress. With approximately 12,000 participants, including 800 internationals from 77 countries, this Congress was the largest in WFPHA ’s history.
The Congress opened with a distinguished panel of Brazilian and International speakers who set the stage for his year ’s theme: “ Public Health in a Globalized World: Breaking down social, economic, and political barriers.” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva underlined the importance of Brazil ’s Universal Health System is an integral component of Brazil ’s social policy and offered that it should serve as a model for other developing countries to promote social inclusion and improved public health. Other important guest speakers included Dr. Mirta Roses, Director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). She encouraged using the opportunity afforded by the various forums at the Congress to examine how to build a more equitable world in the face of global challenges. WFPHA President Dr. Cuauhtemoc Ruiz Matus talked about breaking down international barriers by using public health as both a science and a social movement.
While the Opening Ceremony placed great emphasis on promoting equity in public health, the great debates, plenaries, panels, lectures, oral sessions, and posters continued to examine the four sub-themes of the Congress, which included:
• Global Action on the Social Determinants of Health
• Global Governance, Citizen Participation, and the Right to Health
• Promoting Equitable Healthcare Systems in a Competitive World
• New Frontiers in Science and Technology
Speakers tackled tough questions related to these themes, especially in fields like environment, violence, HIV and AIDS, community-based public health, and earth monitoring systems. They explored ways to bring these various communities of practice together to tackle the challenges posed by globalization. The discussions also analyzed how the elements of globalization can compound poverty and make successful interventions increasingly difficult, especially for the world ’s poorest citizens. A key topic examined was the state of the public health workforce and the need to train and retain sufficient human resources. Key speakers analyzing these topics included:
Sir Michael Marmot, Sonia Maria Fleury Teixera, Giovanni Berlinguer, Christopher Flavin, and Paulo Buss. After presenting the Leavell Lecture, Paulo Buss was honored with the Leavell Lecture Award by WFPHA President Cuauhtemoc Ruiz Matus and Past-President Theodor Abelin. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz, received the WFPHA ’s Institutional Award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of public health.
The 11th World Congress on Public Health successfully concluded with the presentation of the Rio Declaration. Incoming WFPHA President S.M. Asib Nasim, along with ABRASCO President Paulo Gadelha, read the declaration that had been drafted by members of the ABRASCO Scientific Committee, in consultation with leaders of ABRASCO and WFPHA. The Rio Declaration declared that globalization “produced a vicious cycle, with increased inequalities leading to poverty and social exclusion, worsening life conditions, deteriorating health and, in turn, extending even more social inequalities within and among countries.” The declaration continues to note how increasing inequalities threaten the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. Sharing scientific information and discoveries between nations was considered a positive outcome of globalization that should be encouraged further. The presenters of the Rio Declaration charged Congress participants to continue working to break down social, economic, and political barriers in the face of globalization. They planned to evaluate progress at the 2009 World Congress on Public Health, to be held April 27 th -May 1 st in Istanbul, Turkey.
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