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First woman set to lead UN health agency's regional office for Americas

First woman set to lead UN health agency's regional office for Americas

Dr. Roses Periago
The first woman to lead the regional office of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) in the Americas will be sworn in later this week, the agency said today.

Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, who is also the first Argentine to hold the position, will take her oath as Director of the 100-year-old Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) at a ceremony on Friday in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Roses was elected last September by the Pan American Sanitary Conference and will replace Dr. George Alleyne, whose five-year term ends on Friday. She most recently served as PAHO Assistant Director in charge of all technical cooperation programmes as well as the Organization's Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Programme.