Remarks as Delivered at the Inauguration of the Regional Health Care Training Center

Good afternoon.  It’s a pleasure to be back in Panamá.

This is a great day for Panamá and for all of the countries that came together to make this Regional Health Care Training Center a success.

Less than a year ago, the center was just an idea that arose in conversation among the health ministers of the region. Now it’s a permanent reality here at Santo Tomás Hospital.

I would like to start by thanking President Torrijos and Minister Alleyne for their support of the center. This event could not have happened without them.

I would also like to thank the representatives of each of the other five partner nations: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

I am honored to have been your partner in the center’s founding, and I look forward to working with you all in the future.

The Regional Training Center shows what great things nations can accomplish when they work together.

Working together is the underlying theme of President Bush’s new initiative to advance the cause of social justice in the Western Hemisphere.

The initiative is meant to help democracies in the region:

• Build Governments that are fair, effective, and free of corruption;
• Maintain economies that make it possible for workers to provide for their families; and
• Meet basic needs for education, housing, and health care.

My part in the initiative is improving the region’s health care, especially for those in rural areas.

Health care is fundamental human need. It’s also a universal language of caring. 

The U.S. Government invests millions of dollars each year in health programs in Latin America.  Since 2001, the United States has spent almost $1 billion on health programs in the region.  That financial commitment is important. But money alone can only do so much. 

We need to add the human element to our health care assistance.  That is why the United States is becoming more directly involved in seeing that the people of Central America get the health care they need.  This effort is focused on three main objectives:

• Increasing direct patient care provided by U.S. personnel;
• Working closer with American charities to provide more, and better, health care; and
• Improving the training of local health workers.

Toward the first objective, people from my Department and the U.S. military are becoming more directly involved in treating and healing the poor in Central America. 

This month, the President will send the USNS Comfort, a Navy medical ship, to Latin America and the Caribbean. The Comfort will make port calls in 12 countries, including here in Panamá at Colón on the Caribbean Coast. Its doctors, nurses, and technicians expect to treat 85,000 patients, and conduct up to 1,500 surgeries.

Dental care is an area of special concern. We know that poor oral health can cause many other serious health problems.

So, this summer, dentists from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in my Department will join military dentists from the U.S. Southern Command on humanitarian missions to the region.

They will perform basic treatments like filling cavities, treating infections, and pulling teeth. They will also offer preventive education on oral health and hygiene to children and their parents.

Our second objective is working closer with American health-care providers in the region. By coordinating health-care delivery, we can do a better job of making the most of available resources.

Our third objective is to improve the training of health workers. That is why we are here today.

As I mentioned earlier, the need for better training of health workers came up last September in conversation among other health ministers.

All of our countries have highly professional physicians, dentists, and nurses. What they need are more trained sub-physicians, sub-nurses, medical and dental technicians, and community health workers.  That’s what this center will provide.

To make the center a reality, Minister Alleyne and I traveled to five other Central American countries in March. All five joined in signing Letters of Intent to work together as partners.

The center opened its doors for the first time in April at the City of Knowledge here in Panamá City. Fifty students from all six partner countries attended. The faculty included regional experts as well as experts from American universities and my Department.  The curriculum for the first training module focused on a challenge every country in the world faces: pandemic influenza.

Initial results of this training were very encouraging. Pre- and post-course knowledge tests demonstrated a high level of learning among the students. Student feedback after the course indicated that the training was highly beneficial to them.

Today we are here to inaugurate the center’s permanent home. It’s a fine facility.

Because the center is located at Santo Tomás Hospital, students will be able to observe expert medical care first hand. And since training will take place in Panamá, students will be able to return to their homes quickly to apply what they have learned.

Making the most of the center will require continued efforts from all of us, especially from the center’s regional staff and their health-care colleagues through Central America.

You are the foundation of everything we hope to do here. You are the local experts. You know best what your own countries need.

Together, we can prepare all of our countries to defend against future pandemics. The avian influenza is our common enemy, and we will need a common defense against it.

To meet these challenges, we must forge ties not only between governments, but also between private health-care providers and other non-governmental groups.

The solution to our shared challenges is shared expertise. By working together, we can improve the health of the people of Central America, build a common defense against disease, and bring all of our countries closer.

Again, thank you to President Torrijos and Minister Alleyne. Thank you also to our other partner nations and to the staffs of the center and the hospital.

And now, Mr. President?

Last revised: March 13, 2008