The Carlos Slim Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the University of Miami Join Forces to Offer Online Training to Health Care Professionals in Mesoamerica

• An alliance is formed to enhance the quality of health care services
• Training for health professionals working in primary care of pregnant
  women, newborns and children under five

MEXICO CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For the purpose of improving the skills of physicians, nurses and health
care professionals in general who give care to the 20% of the population
with the lowest income in Mesoamerica, the Carlos
Slim Foundation (FCS), the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) and the University
of Miami, have joined forces to make available to health care
personnel two graduate programs [diplomados] intended to
strengthen knowledge in the areas of maternal and child health, thus
enhancing the quality of health care.

Through the graduate programs in Maternal and Neonatal Health (AMANECE)
and Latin American in Vaccinology (DILAVAC), offered through the Online
Interactive Platform for Health Education (PIEENSO) developed by the
Carlos Slim Foundation, the enrolled professionals will benefit from
academic programs with the participation of national and international
experts. Both graduate programs are endorsed by prestigious Mexican
academic institutions such as UNAM and IPN, and now also by the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

In 2016, thanks to this alliance coordinated through the IDB, the Carlos
Slim Foundation will help Mesoamerican countries with 2,000 scholarships
at a cost of $1,500 each. Complementing this effort, the Department of
Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of
Medicine joins this initiative by providing academic endorsement to the
fellows who complete the graduate programs.

Helping to reduce the gaps in health equity and strengthen knowledge in
the areas of maternal and child healthcare for the professionals working
in the most disadvantaged sectors of Mesoamerica have been the triggers
for this tripartite alliance whose main goal is to help bring down one
of the most worrisome scourges of the region: the mortality rate of
women of reproductive age and of children under 5.

“The IDB is committed to this academic initiative because by
implementing the online graduate programs it is investing in the
training of health care personnel in the region, a key element to
improve the quantity and quality of maternal, neonatal and child health
services to the poorest populations in Mesoamerica,” said Luis Alberto
Moreno, president of the Bank.

“The alliance formalized today among our three institutions is an
important step to consolidate, through the academic endorsement of an
institution as prestigious as the University of Miami, the investment
effort in human capital that the Carlos Slim Foundation has developed
through PIEENSO, the online training platform for health care
professionals,” said Marco Antonio Slim, a member of the Foundation’s
Administrative Council.

University of Miami President Dr. Julio Frenk noted that: “As a
hemispheric institution, the University of Miami is dedicated not only
to the generation of knowledge, but also to ensure that such knowledge
is made available to those who need it. The mission of our Department of
Public Health Sciences is to improve the health of the Americas
population through the development of local capabilities in the region.”

With these training programs, the Carlos Slim Foundation, the University
of Miami and the IDB support the strengthening of the quality and
coverage of health care services for which the governments of
Mesoamerica are working through the Mesoamerican Health Initiative.

About the Carlos Slim Foundation

Created in 1986 with high-impact programs focusing on the most
vulnerable population, the Carlos Slim Foundation has benefited millions
of persons. With a high sense of social responsibility, efficiency and
opportunity, the Foundation develops programs in the fields of
education, employment, health, nutrition, justice, culture, human
development, assistance during natural disasters, economic development,
protection and conservation of the environment, among others, which
contribute to improve the quality of life of people of all ages, promote
the formation of human capital and create opportunities that encourage
the integral development of persons and their communities.

http://www.fundacioncarlosslim.orgwww.fundacioncarlosslim.org

@Fund_CarlosSlim

Facebook.com/FundacionCarlosSlim

About the IDB

The mission of the Inter-American Development Bank is to improve lives.
Founded in 1959, the IDB is one of the main sources of long-term
financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin
America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research
projects and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training
to public and private clients throughout the region.

About the University of Miami

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is an academic medical
center that transforms lives by providing compassionate and world-class
health care, leading life-changing discoveries and by advancing patient
care through innovative research, educating the next generation of
medical leaders, and promoting the health of our community.

Contacts

University of Miami:
Annette Herrera
Executive Director
of Communications
anherrera@miami.edu
or
Barbara
Gutierrez, 305-284-3205
bgutierrez@miami.edu
or
IDB
In
Mexico
María Esther Lazcano
Media Director, CMM
elazcano@cmmsc.com.mx
or
In
Washington DC:
Valeria Pacheco
Communications Specialist
Valeriap@iadb.org
or
In
Panamá:
Alejandro de la Torre
Health Specialist
ALEJANDROD@iadb.org
or
Carlos
Slim Foundation:
Gloria Saldaña
Communications Director
gsaldana@fundacioncarlosslim.org