A century supporting public health in the Americas

Since it was founded in 1902, the Pan American Health Organization has provided countries with technical cooperation to prevent, control, and eradicate diseases, promote operational research, and inform health professionals and the general population about scientific advances in the field of health.

In the early twentieth century, the main public health problems were cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, and tuberculosis––diseases that did not respect borders, race, age, or socioeconomic class. PAHO recognized early on that the eradication of these diseases required international cooperation and to this end, in May 1922, the Pan American Journal of Public Health was established to promote regular scientific communication among the health authorities of the Region. 

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