This is my second report from the Global Health Conference happening in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  The conference is the joint effort of the Global Health Education Consortium (GHEC), based in San Francisco, California,  and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP), here in Curenavaca.  I spoke with Lisa DeMaria, Investigadora en Ciencias Medicas of INSP and she told me about a perhaps lesser known part of the Global Health field. “There is a sophisticated network in Latin America of middle income countries with similar health issues that are working closely together to address common challenges.” “The face of Global Health is changing,” she told me as we discussed that there is much more happening today in Global Health than just the very wealthy countries attempting to help the very poor countries.

The conference this weekend is a good manifestation of this with at least 22 countries represented.  It is also the First Latin American Caribbean Conference on Global Health and so the extensive regional network of health professionals is strongly represented.  INSP and GHEC have championed the effort to establish this first of a kind conference without knowing for sure if there would be a second conference but the momentum that has been created here seems to be sufficient to ensure continuation with countries like Brazil, Chile, and others stepping up to carry on the tradition.