The Health authorities of the Americas region elected Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva from Brazil, current deputy regional director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as the newly elected director of the Pan American Sanitary Office of Health, which will direct the destiny of the international organization in the next five years.
The head of the Panamanian delegation, the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, congratulated the PAHO director-elect and stressed that “on behalf of President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen and the Government of the Republic of Panama, to PAHO for the exercise of democracy, in the elections of the largest health organization in the Americas, the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization.”
He added that “Panama, as a founding country of PAHO, appreciates the support received from member countries for our proposal and we congratulate Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva of Brazil, for his triumph as PAHO director-elect.”
“To Dr. Barbosa we say that Panama ratifies its commitment not to leave anyone behind and to continue working shoulder to shoulder with PAHO, to bring equitable access to health for our peoples; We wish you success in managing it and that you have all the support of Panama for managing it, ”he concluded.
The selection of the new director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau marked a milestone in this type of voting, being the first time that up to four rounds have been used to elect the regional director of the organization.
In the first round, there were 40 votes (37 valid and 3 blank) and there was a tie of 10 votes between the candidate from Panama, Dr. Camilo Alleyne, and Dr. Nadine Zylbermann, nominated by Mexico.
After a brief recess, a second round of voting was recorded and again there were 40 votes (37 valid and 3 blank); on this occasion, the members voted for Dr. Camilo Alleyne with 12 votes and with 13 votes, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. (Brazil), were the two candidates who received the highest number of votes.
Later, there was a recess to start the voting again, in a third round, which was held between Dr. Camilo Alleyne (Panama) and Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva (Brazil).
The voting in the third round was 38 votes (36 valid, 1 invalid and 1 white); They came out again as the two most voted, Dr. Camilo Alleyne for Panama, had 17 votes and Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. from Brazil with 19 votes.
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The voting in the third round was 38 votes (36 valid, 1 invalid and 1 white); They came out again as the two most voted, Dr. Camilo Alleyne for Panama, had 17 votes and Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. from Brazil with 19 votes.
The fourth and last round registered 38 valid votes, of which 16 votes went to former Minister Camilo Alleyne and 21 votes to Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva, who was elected as the new director of PAHO.
As stipulated in the PAHO regulations, the newly elected director will serve a five-year term on February 1, 2023 and will complete his term on January 31, 2028. He may be re-elected, only once, immediately. .
