(introductory text...)

1982 Scientific Publication No 419

PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Pan American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office of the
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
525 Twenty-third Street, N W.
Washington, D C 20037, U S. A

Published also in Spanish (1982) as:

Control de vectores con posterioridad a los desastres naturales

The publication of this manual, in English and Spanish, has been made possible by financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID/OFDA).

ISBN 92 75 11419 6

© Pan American Health Organization

Publications of the Pan American Health Organization enjoy copyright protection in accordance with the provisions of Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. For rights of reproduction or translation of PAHO publications, in part or in toto, application should be made to the Office of Publications, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D.C. The Pan American Health Organization welcomes such applications.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Pan American Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the Pan American Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

HEALTH FOR ALL BY THE YEAR 2000

In 1977, the World Health Assembly decided that the main social target the governments and of WHO should be the attainment by all people of the world by the year 2000 of a level of health that would permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life, that is, the goal popularly known as "health for all by the year 2000. "

In 1978 the International Conference on Primary Health Care (Alma-Ata, USSR) declared that, as a central function of the national health system and an integral part of economic and social development, primary health care was the key to achieving that goal. Subsequently, the governments committed themselves-at the global level at the World Health Assembly, and at the regional level at meetings of the PAHO Governing Bodies-to implement the resolutions adopted fur attaining health for all In the Americas the high point of these mandates was reached on 28 September 1981 when the Directing Council of PAHO approved the Plan of Action for implementing the regional strategies for health for all by the year 2000. These strategies had been approved by the Directing Council in 1980 (Resolution XX) and today constitute the basis of PAHO's policy and programming, and represent in addition the contribution of the Region of the Americas to the global strategies of WHO.

The Plan of Action approved by the Directing Council contains the minimum goals and regional objectives, as well as the actions governments of the Americas and the Organization must take in order to attain health for all. The Plan, continental in nature, is essentially dynamic and is addressed not only to current problems but also to those likely to arise from the application of the strategies and the fulfillment of regional goals and objectives. It also defines priority areas that will serve as a basis, in developing the program and the necessary infrastructure, /or national and international action.

The exchange and dissemination of information constitutes one of the priority areas of the Plan of Action. PAHO's publication program-including periodicals, scientific publications, and official documents-is designed as a means of promoting the ideas contained in the Plan by disseminating data on policies, strategies, international cooperation programs, and progress achieved in collaboration with countries of the Americas in the process of attaining health for all by the year 2000.