| Summary: | Currently, emerging and reemerging infectious diseases are among the most challenging health problems being faced by countries of the Region. Some of these diseases have appeared in recent times; others have afflicted humanity in the past and are now reappearing, with renewed strength, in some cases as a result of the inadequate or unnecessary use of antibiotics on the part of the public at large and even of medical professionals. In light of the danger posed by these diseases, especially in poor countries where there are scant infrastructural and economic resources with which to combat them, in 1995 PAHO adopted a Regional Plan of Action and established a Task Force for the Surveillance of Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, with the aim of establishing effective and sustainable mechanisms for disease surveillance, diagnosis, prevention, and control in the entire American continent. The overall thrust of these measures and of the technical cooperation PAHO provides to the different countries is the subject of this report.
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