Secretary Leavitt visits El Salvador
March 29, 2006

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Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt made a two-day visit to El Salvador, the fourth stop on a tour of Latin America that also includes Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala.  The visit, follows closely on President Bush’s recent trip to Latin America and forms part of the President’s initiative for advancing the cause of social justice in the Western Hemisphere. 

During the Secretary’s trip, he is signing Letters of Intent with El Salvador and the other four nations to start a Regional Training Center for health-care workers.  The Center will be located in Panama City, but it will train students from all over the region for service in their home countries.
 
On March 29 and 30, the Secretary held meetings with President Antonio Saca, First Lady Ana Ligia de Saca, Minister of Health Jose Guillermo Maza, and members of El Salvadoran medical and dental associations.  Other members of the delegations include HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina Carbonell and Panamanian Health Minister Dr. Camilo Alleyne Marshall.

Secretary Leavitt and his delegation’s agenda included a site visit to the state run Sara Zaldívar nursing home where they participated in a round table with Salvadoran First Lady, Minister of Health, Social Security Director and other high officials of the health sector.

“By working together, we can improve the health of the people of Central America, build a common defense against disease, and bring all of our countries closer together,” Secretary Leavitt said.  “Health care problems know no borders.  The solution to our shared health problems is shared medical expertise.  I am excited to work with the President and First Lady Saca, Health Minister Maza and medical and dental professionals in El Salvador to improve the health care infrastructure in our hemisphere.”

The health component of the President’s initiative will channel technical and financial resources from the U.S. Government and the private-sector to improve health care for people in Central America.  The health initiative seeks to help shift Central America’s health care focus from treatment to prevention.  Further, the initiative will advance efforts toward better oral health care, which can significantly impact health care costs and prevent health care problems.  In coming months, health care workers from HHS and the U.S military will work with local health workers to provide direct care to the poor of Central America. 
 
The Secretary’s overarching strategy for the health diplomacy component of the President’s initiative in the Americas centers on three key objectives:

• Direct patient care provided in the region by U.S. Government personnel -- Beginning this summer, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps dentists from HHS will join U.S. Southern Command military medical and humanitarian missions to provide preventive dental care to needy citizens of these countries.  The U.S.N.S Comfort -- a Navy medical ship – will make port calls in 12 countries, and its doctors, nurses, and health care professionals, including from the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, expect to treat 85,000 patients -- and conduct up to 1,500 surgeries.  These missions will be mutually beneficial, as they will serve as an opportunity for U.S. government personnel to hone their skills in providing culturally competent care domestically and abroad.

• Establishment of a Regional Training Center in Panama to train health care workers – Starting next month, the school will train a broad variety of local health-care workers -- community health workers, sub-physicians, sub-nurses, technicians -- so they can provide basic care.  The training will also help them prepare for situations that could require specific skills related to infectious disease, such as pandemic influenza. 

• Harnessing the energies of U.S. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that work in the region to coordinate health assistance -- By better coordinating on-the-ground delivery of health care with U.S. NGOs that are operating in the region, we can do a better job of making the most of the resources we have to devote to this mission.

"I am very excited to be part of this important visit to support the President’s initiative.  The United States and El Salvador share similar concerns and challenges - including the challenge of preparing for global aging and how we as countries, governments – and as individuals -- will care for our loved ones as they age.  I look forward to working together to help meet these challenges," said U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell. 

HHS and other U.S. Departments have a long history of collaboration with governments and public and private organizations in the Americas to address the most pressing health issues.  Since 2001, the United States has spent almost $1 billion on health programs in the region.  As a founding member of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) over 100 years ago, the United States has provided leadership as well as technical assistance, and collaborated in bilateral and multilateral in programs of mutual hemispheric interest in the Americas (e.g., water and sanitation, tobacco control, training, biomedical and behavioral research, border health, disease eradication and the fight against HIV/AIDS).

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