OPINION: US doctors Panama legacy

A scientific research institution of tropical medicine was established 90 years ago between the governments of Panama and the United States. That laboratory commemorated the brilliant American physician William Gorgas, who was in charge of the sanitation of the area that would be transformed into the Panama Canal.

Gorgas had the vision to clean up the cities of Panama and Colon because he understood that plagues and epidemics know no borders. His legacy is impressive: since 1908, the territory that he healed has not had yellow fever. For almost 70 years the laboratory conducted studies of tropical medicine with a traditional scientific approach.

When Panama transformed it into the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies (Icges), it added the social perspective that put it  in tune with the times. The Gorgas has been an incubator of great discoveries and the seedbed of brilliant Panamanian scientists,

like Pedro Galindo, Marcos de Obaldía, Néstor Sosa, Jorge Motta, María Magela Brenes, Aida de Rivera, Guillermo Castro, Arlene Calvo and others who have contributed to build the national scientific wisdom, contributing to universal knowledge from Panama. Our country to focus on more research and innovation since that is the path that will take us to sustainable human development. That is the route that Gorgas has built for humanity …LA PRENSA, Aug. 11