[Enclosure]
Memorandum of Agreement for the Execution of a
Program of Public Health and Sanitation in Colombia
Reference is made to the request of the Colombian Government, through
the Colombian Ambassador in Washington, for assistance in the
execution of a cooperative program of public health and sanitation
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in Colombia and to the
conversations of September 24 had between the American Ambassador in
Bogotá, the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, and the Minister
of Trabajo, Higiene y Previsión Social, concerning such a
program.
Reference is also made to the notes exchanged between the Government
of Colombia and the Government of the United States on rubber
development in Colombia, with particular reference to a program of
health and sanitation in connection with rubber production in
Colombia.16
The United States Government, through the Office of the Coordinator
of Inter-American Affairs, is prepared to send at once to Colombia,
under request of the Colombian Government, to cooperate with the
corresponding officials of the Colombian Government and its Ministry
of Trabajo, Higiene y Previsión Social, such experts as the
Colombian Government desires in order to collaborate in developing a
specific program for the improvement of health and sanitation
conditions in Colombia. This program will be designed to improve
health and sanitation conditions in Colombia in accordance with the
memorandum prepared by the Minister of Trabajo, Higiene y Previsión
Social presented to the American Ambassador and to the Coordinator
of Inter-American Affairs in Bogotá on September 24.
For the purposes of this program, the Government of the United
States, through the Agency of the Coordinator of Inter-American
Affairs, will provide an amount not to exceed One Million Dollars to
be expended for the execution of the program. The expenditure of
these funds may be applied not only to the health and sanitation
program, but also in the discretion of the Government of Colombia
for such medical, scientific, and technical training as the
Government of Colombia may wish undertaken by Colombian
specialists.
It is understood that the Government of Colombia will furnish such
expert personnel, services, and funds for local expenditures as it
may consider necessary for the efficient development of the program.
The group of United States doctors and sanitary engineers which will
be sent to Colombia by the Office of the Coordinator of
Inter-American Affairs shall be under the direction of the Chief
Medical Officer of that Office, who in turn will be under the
supervision of the appropriate officials of the Colombian
Government. It is understood that a special service of public health
and sanitation will be established within the Ministry of Trabajo,
Higiene y Previsión Social under the direction of the American Chief
Medical Officer of the Coordinator’s Office, and that detailed
arrangements for the establishment of such a special service will be
carried out between Brigadier General George
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C. Dunham, Director of the Health and
Sanitation Division of the Coordinator’s Office, and the Minister of
Trabajo, Higiene y Previsión Social.
The expenditure of United States funds for the purposes of this
program will be handled through the Institute of Inter-American
Affairs, of which the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs is
President and of which General George C. Dunham is Director of the
Health and Sanitation Division. Detailed arrangements for the
execution of each project will be discussed and agreed to between
the Chief Medical Officer and the appropriate officer of the
Colombian Government in the area of the proposed project.
It is understood that the Government of Colombia is particularly
interested in including in the program projects aimed at continuing
and extending measures and services which the public health and
sanitation agencies of the Colombian Government have been carrying
out with efficiency and success. The measures and services embodied
in the health and sanitation program are included under the
following headings:
- 1.
- The improvement of nutrition in a general program for the
improvement of the public health of Colombia, utilizing the
services already established by the Ministerio de Trabajo,
Higiene y Previsión Social.
- 2.
- Assistance in the control of malaria, with particular
reference to the eradication of malaria in the ports of
Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Buenaventura, Tumaco,
and Bahía Solano.
- 3.
- Assistance in the control and eradication of
Rickettsiasis.
- 4.
- Assistance in the control and eradication of
Bartonellosis.
- 5.
- Assistance in the sanitation of ports, particularly the
ports of Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Buenaventura,
Tumaco, and Bahía Solano, and such other areas as may be
agreed upon.
- 6.
- The establishment, in so far as practical, of public
health centers for the effective execution of the
program.
- 7.
- The training of Colombian personnel in the fields of
medicine, public health, sanitary engineering, nursing, and
hospital administration.
All projects completed in accordance with the present agreement will
be the property of the Government of Colombia.
Bogotá, September 24,
1942.
