Abstract
Since 1971, Canada has been involved in promoting the importance of health in the Americas when it officially joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization (WHO). PAHO is an international health agency, that focuses its work on the Region of the Americas, including Latin America and the Caribbean. It works with countries throughout the region to improve and protect people's health by engaging in technical cooperation with its member states to fight communicable and noncommunicable diseases and their causes, to strengthen health systems, and to respond to emergencies and disasters. As the focal point for PAHO/WHO in Canada, the Office of International Affairs (OIA) for the Health Portfolio, which comprises of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), is responsible for the Government of Canada’s relation with the Organization. This summer, I completed my practicum on the PAHO team within the OIA as a Junior Policy Analyst. Throughout this practicum, I focused on supporting the preparations for PAHOs Governing Body Meetings. The Governing Bodies includes the following: The Pan American Sanitary Conference, the Directing Council, and the Executive Committee. These committees comprise of government representatives from member states who exercise governance over an organization such as PAHO. During these meetings, these representatives from member states discussed key public health priorities within the Region of the Americas, including amendments and resolutions. In addition to these preparations, I also worked on key policy documents that was intended for the use in future policy steps that the OIA was stepping towards.