Regional Chapters and Local Groups
Regional Chapters and Local Groups
Report on the meeting of the Latin American and the
Caribbean Chapter of ISEE
Twenty-four participants representing several countries of Latin America met at the last annual conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), held in Buffalo, NY, September 19-22, 2000. This special meeting had the main purpose of re-activating the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) Chapter of the ISEE.
The Chapter was first organised in 1991 with the mission of congregating Latin-American investigators who were members of ISEE. It was the joint effort of ISEE and the Chapter that promoted the annual meeting of the ISEE in 1992 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, as well as other activities in the Region.
In recent years the chapter has been inactive, and it was agreed at the September meeting in Buffalo that, for several reasons, this is a good time to revitalise this initiative. First, the region has been undergoing rapid growth, with some of the highest urbanisation rates in the world. This growth has been accompanied in many situations by increasing environmental problems. Second, regulatory activities in the region’s countries need to be supported by scientific evidence. Finally, there has been substantial growth in the number of regional professionals conducting work in environmental health, including environmental epidemiology.
The main aims of the LAC Chapter of ISEE will be 1) to identify individuals and groups working in the area of environmental health in Latin America and the Caribbean; 2) to facilitate transfer of information and communications among environmental epidemiologists in the region; 3) to promote the development of scientific perspectives and methodological capacities to face environmental problems in the area; 4) to facilitate the establishment of collaborative networks among different centres in the region; and 5) to interact with PAHO in order to contact and support academic and governmental institutions to establish an agenda of training in specific methodologies. In addition, the LAC Chapter will aim to influence the agenda, themes, and sites for future meetings of the ISEE.
At the September meeting we discussed the need to contact people in the region that have been working with environmental epidemiology to let them know of the existence of the LAC Chapter and this new initiative. The idea is to identify potential members and to jointly develop an agenda for the Chapter.
To ‘spread the word’ we are preparing a document describing the Chapter, the ISEE and its activities, and a questionnaire that will allow us to obtain a profile of the potential participants. This document will be posted at websites of various Latin-American institutions.
The idea is also to interact with local societies, promoting courses and possible collaborative research. As a first initiative of the Chapter we are proposing to meet and possibly develop a course at the next meeting of the Mexican National Health Conference in March next year in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
You can be a part of this initiative by joining the ISEE. To join, please go to the membership section of this site for instructions and a membership application. Once you become a member you will receive more information on the status of this initiative, future activities, and a questionnaire to allow us to obtain a profile of your current work and research interests.
If you have any questions or want more information you can contact:
Isabelle Romieu, MD, MPH, ScDPAHO/CDC Consultant in Environmental Epidemiology
Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica
Av Universidad 655
Col Santa Maria Ahucatitlan
Cuernavaca, Morelos 62520 Mexico
Phone: 52-73-110111, ext. 2200
Fax: 52-73-111148
E-mail: iromieu@insp3.insp.mx
Paulina Pino, PhD
Division of Environmental Health
School of Public Health
University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine,
Independencia 939
Santiago, Chile
Phone: 56-2 678-6152
Fax: 56-2 735-5582
E-mail: ppino@machi.med.uchile.cl
Mildred Maisonet, PhD
Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering & Environmental Sciences
PAHO
PO Box 4337
Lima 100, PERU
Phone: 51-1-437-1077
Fax: 51-1-437-8289
E-mail: mmaisone@cepis.ops-oms.org
Nelson Gouveia, PhD
Medicina Preventiva
Faculdade de Medicina - USP
Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 455
Sao Paulo SP Brazil 01246-903
Phone: 55 11 852 6822, ext. 30
Fax: 55 11 280 7891
E-mail: ngouveia@usp.br
Regional Chapters