The Ministry of Health opened the official branch for business and technical activities relating to the Haiti Project yesterday. This is a result of the cooperation agreement signed between the governments of Brazil, Cuba and Haiti to strengthen the Haitian health system, shaken by the earthquake that hit the Caribbean country in 2010. The site was named "The Zilda Arns Health Center" in tribute to the Brazilian pediatrician and public health worker who died in Haiti during the disaster. Zilda Arns Neumann devoted her life to numerous humanitarian causes related to women and children's health, both within Brazil and abroad.

The opening ceremony was attended by Authorities from the Haitian and Cuban governments, as well as relatives of Zilda Arns and representatives of the Pastoral da Criança, a body founded by the physician in 1983 to assist pregnant women and children across Brazil and in countries such as Paraguay, Colombia, Guinea Bissau and Haiti, among others. The organization has more than 228,000 trained volunteers. The Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, highlighted the important role played Zilda Arns in children's health, both within and outside Brazil. "Inaugurating this Health Center is an honor and is recognition of the importance of the work done in the field of health in Haiti by Zilda Arns", he said.

The Eleventh Meeting of the Haiti Project Steering Committee will also be held this week in Port au Prince. This is the highest decision-making body for implementation of the activities agreed between the three countries, and is guided by the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the governments of Brazil, Cuba and Haiti. The aim is to define new short and medium term targets and to take stock of what has been achieved through the cooperation agreement in recent months.

 

Source:
Ministry of Health