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News Release

STATEMENT BY TOMMY G. THOMPSON
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Regarding the Appointment of Dr. Joxel Garc�a
As Deputy Director of the Pan-American Health Organization

I welcome the appointment of Dr. Joxel Garc�a as Deputy Director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). It has been my privilege to know and work with Dr. Garc�a on a host of issues during my tenure as Secretary of Health and Human Services. He is a leader in the public health arena, an outstanding physician and a great choice to be a leader at PAHO. He is also the first Deputy Director to bring with him the expertise of an MBA. This common-sense, businesslike approach to matters of public health is a fresh and needed perspective.

Dr. Garc�a's selection is particularly appropriate given his unique status as a bridge between the Americas. As a leader in his home state of Connecticut and a proud son of Puerto Rico, Dr. Garc�a embodies the multilingual, multiethnic face of our hemisphere. There is no question that the United States and all the nations of the Americas will find a constructive, engaged partner in Dr. Garc�a.

Under the leadership of Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, PAHO and the United States have cooperated on several issues of importance to the U.S. and to the hemisphere at large, including the threat of AIDS, children's environmental health, and tuberculosis eradication. The Organization is an indispensable partner in our fight to bring the benefits of medicine and science to the more remote corners of the Americas. Our humanity and our obligations as good neighbors demand no less. We look forward to continuing and expanding this constructive engagement with Dr. Garc�a.

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Last Revised: June 17, 2003