San Salvador, 2 Dec (EFE).-the Council of Ministers of the Mesoamerican system of public health (SMSP) became today El Salvador as governing body of such a mechanism which includes the countries of the American Integration System (SICA), Mexico and Colombia.

The new organ was installed after a meeting of the Council of Ministers of health in Central America (Comisca), which for two days was held at a hotel in the Salvadoran capital to review advances in the management of El Salvador in its Presidency pro tempore.

A source of the Comisca told Efe that the mechanism for rotating the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the SMSP will be defined later.

Added that the Council of Ministers of the SMSP is “the body of formal decision that will encourage actions within the countries and will enhance the involvement of new partners in the system”.

The SMSP was created during the Summit X of the mechanism of dialogue and concertation of Tuxtla that was held in the city of Villahermosa on June 28, 2008 and the Comisca adopted its rules of procedure on 23 and 24 June spent in Guatemala so that the Council be constituted today at El Salvador.

According to the source the SMSP has as priority areas vaccination, nutrition, maternal health and diseases transmitted by vectors, as well as epidemiological surveillance and the strengthening of the resources human.

In addition, the SMSP seeking, among other goals by 2015, reducing maternal mortality by 75%, to achieve coverage of family planning in 80% of women and to reduce neonatal mortality by 30 per cent in the countries of the region Mesoamerican.

Also seeks to reduce the prevalence of the delay in the growth of the children of 30.5% to 25.5%, reduce the prevalence of anaemia in under-fives from 32.1% to 23.1%, reduce the incidence of dengue in 50 per cent and eradication of malaria transmission.

The installation of the Council of Ministers of the SMSP was chaired by the Minister of health of El Salvador, Maria Isabel Rodriguez, in an act that also involved his counterpart of Honduras, Arturo Bendaña, and other representatives of the countries of SICA, Mexico and Colombia.

Rodríguez turned to Bendaña the Presidency pro tempore of the Comisca, that it corresponds to Honduras in the first half of next year as part of the rotation of the efforts of SICA and its ministerial bodies.

In the image, the Minister of public health and Social assistance of El Salvador, Maria Isabel Rodriguez. EFE/file