Dr. Roberto Gonzalez, Deputy Minister of Education and Research of Cuba, closing the workshop VCPH

In the context of the celebration of the VII International Congress of Informatics in Health was held in Havana on February 12 to 10, the development of the Workshop of the Virtual Campus of Public Health, to discuss the participation of the priority countries of the region in the Virtual Campus of Public Health.

Dr. Roberto Gonzalez, Deputy Minister of Education and Research of Cuba, during the official closing of the workshop, specifically citing the importance of the contribution of Cuban institutions towards all countries, to enable and facilitate the training of human resources health of the region.

On behalf of the Pan American Health Organization, participated in the opening session, Dr. Charles Godue, Program Coordinator of Human Resources Development for Health, Dr. Eduardo Guerrero, Human Resources Advisor, and Dr. Jose B. Jardines, coordinator of the Virtual Campus of Public Health. Also present were the representative of PAHO / Cuba, Dr. Ariel Delgado, Director of Informatics / MINSAP, Dr. Castells Pastor, director of the National School of Public Health of Cuba and Dr. Pedro Urra, director of Infomed.

The workshop aimed to build a picture of the status of the priority countries of the region, specifically Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Bolivia, and analyze the challenges and conditions for the learning network to promote the Virtual Campus Health Public is a catalyst in the development of human resources for health in these countries. The experiences of each country, the development of public health, the existence of a policy framework, priorities for training, training and development, were among the topics discussed.

Attendees of the priority countries to know, in turn, the experiences of the nodes in the node Costa Rica and Cuba, together with some of the participating institutions of the host country, explained that his contribution to the Virtual Campus of Public Health and shared the experience developed in the country for training.

It was finally agreed on the essential elements for starting a work plan focused on the possibility of more active participation in the Virtual Campus of Public Health, taking into account the need to sensitize the institutions to develop educational programs through technological platforms, the importance of information literacy in a process of continuous education, training of tutors and partnerships between the institutions themselves.