Paraguay and Brazil discuss joint strategies for the eradication of measles.

PIP: The measles epidemic which began at the end of 1996 in Brazil and lasted through 1997, with more than 26,000 confirmed cases, affected several countries in Latin America, including Paraguay. There have been 205 confirmed measles cases in the border area between Brazil and Paraguay, which has a population of approximately 1.5 million people. On the basis of a number of problems identified in the border municipalities of both countries, it was decided to set up 3 local border committees for surveillance, information sharing, and measles eradication planning purposes. A technical meeting held February 12-13, 1998, in Curitiba, Brazil, to establish immediate strategies for controlling measles outbreaks in the border municipalities between Paraguay and Brazil resulted in the preparation of a project for technical cooperation between countries (TCC). TCC projects are a key component of the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) technical cooperation because they foster collaboration among countries in the region to solve certain health problems. Representatives from the Ministries of Health of Brazil and Paraguay, as well as regional and municipal officials, members of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health of Argentina, and PAHO country staff in Paraguay and Brazil attended the meeting.^ieng