PAHO Director meets with new OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin to discuss the inter-American system and health priorities in the Americas.

Washington, DC, March 11, 2025 (PAHO) — Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa met with Albert Ramdin, the newly elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), following his election at the 56th Special Session of the OAS General Assembly in Washington, DC. Mr. Ramdin, a native of Suriname, will officially take office on May 25, 2025, succeeding Luis Almagro, and will serve a five-year term through 2030.

Dr. Barbosa congratulated Mr. Ramdin on his election and expressed confidence that, under his leadership, the OAS will make significant progress in addressing the region's major challenges. Both leaders emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration between PAHO and the OAS to define health priorities for the Americas. The PAHO Director emphasized that integrating health into the broader inter-American agenda is essential to addressing the most pressing challenges facing the region.

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He also commended Ramdin for his valuable contribution to promoting non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the OAS agenda, particularly for his leadership in the creation in 2014 of the Inter-American Working Group on NCDs, which remains essential in addressing chronic diseases in the region.

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Looking ahead, the two leaders noted key events on the calendar, such as the OAS General Assembly in Antigua and Barbuda (June 2025), where PAHO will work closely with the host country to advance a resolution on mental health; the Fourth High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (HLM4) in September 2025; and the 10th Summit of the Americas (December 2025), when heads of state and government will gather in the Dominican Republic to address common political issues and commit to collective actions to build a secure and sustainable hemisphere with shared prosperity.

Dr. Barbosa and Secretary General-elect Ramdin reiterated their commitment to improving coordination among inter-American organizations such as the OAS, PAHO, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and to deepening collaboration to address shared challenges in the Americas and foster a more resilient and healthier region. PAHO and the OAS have a long-standing relationship and work together to address regional health and development challenges.