April 19, 2004

Venezuelan Science Minister, Other Top Latin American
Officials, To Speak On Health Inequality At UCSD April 29-30

By Barry Jagoda

Why are worrisome new epidemics, from AIDS to SARS, emerging in the 21st century? Why, at the same time, are the old killers, supposedly about to go away—cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, and dengue fever—now killing people all over the world?

These and other critical issues in public health will be discussed at an April 29-30 conference on Health Inequality in Latin America involving government officials and scholars from the United States, Latin America, and Spain at the University of California, San Diego. Organized and hosted by the UCSD Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS), conference speakers will explore how changes associated with globalization intersect with a pressing health crisis in Latin America and the U. S.

Panelists include Yadira Córdova, Venezuela’s Minister of Science and Technology, and many leading government health, technology and education officials from Latin America and Spain, as well as public health scholars and educators from those areas and the United States. The U.S. Department of Education sponsored conference is free and open to the public.

The event will be held in the Deutz Conference Room at the Institute of the Americas, on the UCSD campus, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m on both days. Those interested may reserve a seat by email to Monica Arciga, marciga@ucsd.edu, or by phoning (858) 534-6050. More information, including a detailed conference schedule with a full list of participants, is available at http://cilas.ucsd.edu/.

Media Contacts:
Monica Arciga, (858) 534-6050, or Barry Jagoda (858) 534-8567