We know that the water can be protected at various places - we can ensure the safety of the water sources, we can apply physicochemical means and try to make safe water available in conventional distribution systems. Once the water is available, there is no excuse for a family not to have t as a benefit rather than a risk to health. There are similar newer developments in the field of solid waste disposal and promising ideas for returning waste to agricultural areas. I believe that these approaches will allow us to give form and substance to some of the items of the Plan of Action for the Sustainable Development of the Americas that accompanied the Declaration of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. An initiative for Health Technology Linking the Americas will have enormous potential for public-private partnerships in areas beside vaccine development.
Telecommunications is one example that comes to mind immediately.
I said initially that any sectoral issues put before the Santiago Summit should be within the context of the overriding theme of reducing poverty and inequity, be politically viable, give possibility of intersectoral and interagency collaboration and foster the Pan American approach. I believe that the initiative of Health Technology Linking the Americas could fulfill these criteria. The basic thesis is that this would enhance health and reduce inequities. The wide application of the health technologies 1 have mentioned will improve health and thereby reduce poverty and particularly the health information technologies will he1p to define the inequities more clearly as well as giving the possibilities of reducing them. 1 could show the political viability of this approach in a more detailed proposal pointing out the advantage of Presidents and Heads of State being able to inform their people of specific actions that affect their daily life and their living.