Latin America

Within OGA, the Latin America and Caribbean Region are part of the Office of the Americas. They coordinate U.S. government policy and functions related to HHS international activities in the Americas region. The Office of the Americas represents HHS on health, welfare and family issues pertaining to the region. Their audiences include:

  • Other governments in the Americas
  • Federal Departments and agencies
  • International organizations
  • The private sector

In addition, the Office of the Americas supports the HHS Mission, the Secretary's priorities, and the HHS Global Health Strategy. This office provides policy advice and leadership. They also coordinate international health and social matters in the Americas. Finally, they provide staffing support for senior HHS leaders.

Current HHS initiatives of the Office of the Americas include:

  • The U.S.-Brazil Working Group in Public Health (US-Brazil WGPH). The US-Brazil WGPH was established in 2006 under the U.S.-Brazil Joint Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The purpose of the US-Brazil WGPH is to strengthen the continuing partnership in public health, medicine, and research. Right now, the US-Brazil WGPH focuses on programs that are important in public health, biomedical research, and behavior research. They are continuing to explore ways to collaborate on health issues in third countries, such as Haiti and Lusophone Africa. The U.S. point of coordination is the Office of the Americas. The Brazilian point is the Assesoria Internacional of the Health Ministry. The most recent meeting of this group occurred in late February 2011 in Brasilia, Brazil. It was their third meeting.
  • The Haiti Health Facilities Working Group. In January 2010, the Office of the Americas partnered with the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Together, the led the formation of the Haiti Health Facilities Working Group in response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The purpose of this group is to build upon the previous work of the Haitian Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population (MSPP). The MSPP's infrastructure was severely damaged during the earthquake. The Haiti Health Facilities Working Group intends to create a confirmed, complete list of health facilities in Haiti. The list provides a core set of information. It will uniquely identify health facilities including latitude and longitude. This will enable geographic analysis. This Working Group is a consensus-based international consortium. This means it has representation from U.S. Federal Agencies, universities, international, local and Haitian diaspora NGOs, multilateral organizations, foundations, businesses, international faith-based organizations, and the MSPP. The Office of the Americas manages this group. As of April 1, 2011, there were 154 individual members. 67 of these members represented U.S. Federal Agencies. To access the Master List of Health Facilities in Haiti, please visit: www.travax.com/m.
  • In addition, two other programs make up a significant focus of the Office of the Americas:

Department of State Country Information

Contact OGA Office of the Americas Region

Office of Global Affairs
Americas
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20201
Phone: (202) 690-6174, (202) 260-0399
Fax: (202) 690-7127