2006-07-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

AMICOR – HONCode

Code of Conduct Department HONcode:
http://www.hon.ch/Conduct.html
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Geneva University Hospital - DIM My electronic mail is
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HONcode, Health On the Net Foundation's initiative to improve the quality of the medical Internet. AMICOR has been visited and reviewed by the HONcode team for compliance.

The following lines are inspired on recommendations received from the HONCode team:
I am the author responsible for AMICOR: Aloyzio Cechella Achutti, physician, specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. Graduation in 1958, in the School of Medicine from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (RGS) State, Porto Alegre, Brazil; and Professor, from the same school, until retirement in 1996.
Member of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology, the Medical Association of RGS; and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology (after World Heart Federation) from 1989 until 2001; also member of the Academy of Medicine from the RGS, and its President 2001 and 2002; Member of the Smoking or Health Expert Panel from the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1982 until 1999.
Several times I was temporary advisor for the Brazil Ministry of Health, WHO, Pan American Health Organization and World Bank; also member of the International Advisory Board of ProCOR (initiative of Professor Bernard Lown. Boston, USA)
Now, the author is member of the Hospital Moinhos de Vento Medical Orientation Panel.
AMICOR was created in 1997 May, 17, following the first National Ten Days Seminar on Epidemiology and Prevention. AMICOR started as an e-mail list to discuss the “Gramado Declaration’ with the participants that had access to this communication resource (23). Soon I discovered that was easy to share with my friends and colleagues the material I found as relevant as to keep to myself surfing in INTERNET. Now the open list is composed of more than 300 members, mostly cardiologists from Brazil. Some of the delivered material is referred by other members of the list.
AMICOR have had several styles since its starting point, according to the evolution of the media. Now it is a set of Blogs aiming to facilitate pre-selection to the main interest of the specialists’ members of the list.
Although destined primarily to medical professionals, the site is open to visit and "The information provided on this web site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician."
The information I receive from the members of the list, to send periodically an alert message, are strictly confidential and not shared with any other person or institution.
AMICOR is free and do not have any economic or institutional support. It is a personal, autonomic, self-supported activity, and does not accept advertising.
The name AMICOR was borrowed to ProCOR, to similar activities from other countries.
Collaboration and suggestions to improvements or corrections are welcome.

2005-08-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Biographical notes and Summary Curriculum Vitae (May, 2004)

ALOYZIO CECHELLA ACHUTTI

Talking on my life history and professional activity I need to say that I encountered very special and favorable circumstances, with many opportunities and space to create and start several projects, with help of so many friends, colleagues and scholar faculties. So, looking back I realize that I am a happy man in the context of my family, my city, my State, my country, my Region and my world.

The only circumstance I lament is the inequity, odium and intolerance even pervading us.

My grandfather Antonio Mansur Achutti, dedicated to commercial activities, came in 1889, aged 17, from Lebanon to Brazil. He was born in Beirut, but his family was originated from a small village on the hills, whose name was taken by the family. Settled in the Southernmost State of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul State, RS), in the city where I was born, Santa Maria, he married an Italian immigrant (Vicenza, Padova) Magdalena Miollo Borin, from a small farmers family.

My mother, was from the third generation of German Jews immigrants (Böbien-Adamy from Schmidt-Hahenbach, Prussia), and grand daughter from another Italian immigrant (Cechella from Treviso) married with a midwife, also from a Germany immigrants, family Link.

I was born in 1 July 1934 in Santa Maria. My father Bortolo Achutti was a pharmacist, and my mother Luiza Adamy Cechella was a housewife.

I have two sisters: one plastic artist (Lia Maria) and the other botanist (Maria Helena).

I Married a colleague: doctor Valderês Antonietta Pisani Robinson and we have one son anthropologist (Luiz Eduardo), and two daughters: one psychiatrist (Ana Lúcia) and the other TV producer (Lúcia Helena) and also a lawyer student. Four grandchildren: Júlia Belardinelli Achutti, Pedro Martin Achutti Olivé, Antônio Martin Olivé, and Eduardo Belardinelli Achutti.

………………..

In 1958 I was graduated in the School of Medicine from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, the State capital city. I am a specialist in Internal Medicine and Cardiology and I was professor of the School of Medicine from the same University and from the Pontifical Catholic University, retired since 1995.

In 1960-1961 I was Chief Medical Resident in a Service dedicated to Internal Medicine and Cardiology (Service from Professor Eduardo Faraco), pioneer in hemodynamics in our State. It was the first Medical Residency in our State, and the second in Brazil, sponsored by Kellogg Foundation and UFRGS.

From 1961-1965 I was the cardiologist of one of the first services of Heart Surgery in our State, with Dr. Cid Nogueira, fellow from Dr. Keith.

Simultaneously, as a civil servant I assisted school-children in our State Department of Education.

This experience with school-children, congenital heart disease, rheumatic fever, hemodynamics and heart surgery was determinant to several other activities developed during my professional life.

I created other two Services of Pediatric Cardiology, in the Children Hospital Santo Antônio and in the Cardiology Institute of the State.

In 1972, with doctor Rachel Snitkowsky we created the Department of Pediatric Cardiology in the Brazilian Society of Cardiology.

While member of the staff of the Department of Health and Environment from my State I created the first Public Health Program on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Brazil, firstly dedicated to Rheumatic Fever Prevention among school-children, extended after to Hypertension, Smoking, control of other Risk Factors, and globally to Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, evolving to a more comprehensive program of Health Promotion. Other Brazilian States and the Ministry of Health followed these experiences. For this reason they asked frequently for my advisory assistance in this field.

This interest also motivated contact with Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization. I discovered posterirly that in 1972 the World Health Conference stated that the developing Countries had simultaneously the health problems of the rich countries (Non Communicable Diseases) and Diseases from poverty (infections diseases and under-nutrition), what resulted in a new policy including this group of diseases among the priorities. For developing countries from the Mediterranean Region, Dr. Thomas Strasser (WHO) organized a project on Rheumatic Fever Prevention, approaching Cardiovascular Diseases in developing countries.

This project I saw in the magazine “WHO-Chronicle”, was the inspiration for a similar program I proposed to our Department of Health and Environment. WHO and PAHO were informed on our initiative when I asked for license to use the same protocol.

In 1974 I received in Porto Alegre the visit from Dr. Zbinek Pisa, recently head of CVD-WHO and Dr. Jorge Litvak, also recently chief of the Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Sector from PAHO.

I coordinated in Porto Alegre the first meeting on an inter-countries Program on Prevention of Rheumatic Fever in Latin America, the starting point of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention activities in Public Health settings in our Region: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala and after Equador. It was an epidemiological and intervention study of 5 years, and in sequence we elaborated a guideline book:

Achutti A, Hector Boffi Boggero, et all: Manual de normas para el control de la fiebre reumática en la comunidad. PAHO. Washington, 1981.

It was edited firstly in Spanish, and after in English by WHO in Geneva.

In 1975 we started a Program on Hypertension Secondary Prevention through the RS State Department of Health and Environment (RSSDHE), pioneer in Brazil.

In 1978 joint with Dr. Eduardo Costa (fellow from Professor Geoffrey Rose) I coordinated a statewide survey on Blood Pressure and other Risk Factors, in a sample representative of the adult population of RS. It was the first survey of this proportion and characteristics in the World-South Hemisphere. It was a randomized stratified (Rural Interior, Urban Interior, Capital Belt and Capital City) sample of 4,564 individuals from 20-74 years old. It generated a thesis presented to the London University by Dr. Eduardo Costa (School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, oriented by Professor Geoffrey Rose). The same material fed several other scientific papers and the public health policy in our State and others through the Ministry of Health.

Among several papers using the results of the survey it is possible to highlight two:

Costa E de A, et al.: Salt and blood pressure in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Bull Pan Am

Health organization. 1990;24(2):159-176.

Eduardo de A Costa, Geoffrey Rose, Carlos H. Klein and Aloyzio C. Achutti: Diastolic pressure as na index of salt sensitivity. Journal of Human Hypertension (1994) 8, 703-709.

In 1977 we started a new project on smoking control, jointly the RSDHE and the RS State Department of Education. For this reason we performed a 5 years survey (pre-test and post-tests 1980-1984) on behavior and knowledge on smoking of independent samples of school children from the capital city and five years later (1988) from all the State. This work on “Evaluation of 5 years of the Smoking Project”, together with the other members of our team, Maria Helena Rosito and Lygia K. Louzada, worth an award from the Brazilian Medical Association: The first National Award for Medicine and Public Health (Rio de Janeiro, 1986).

The partnership with the RS-Department of Education was fruitful, resulting in the elaboration of several education and instructional material: on Sore throat, on Rheumatic Fever Prevention, on Hypertension, on Smoking Control and on Adult Health and Non-Communicable Diseases.

In Porto Alegre, 1989, I was distinguished with the Award "Medical Distinction 1988-1989", sponsored by the RS Medical Association due to achievements on community services.

From 1982 until 1999 I was member of the WHO-expert panel on Smoking or Health and I participated in the elaboration of the:

WHO-Techincal Repport n. 695 (Geneva, 1982). Anti-smoking strategies in Developing countries

At this time, I was member of the WHO-Cardiovascular Diseases Steering Committee (three times during the period 1980-1990).

I was a member of the PAHO-working-group for the elaboration of a research project on Risk Factors to be applied in 7 Latin American cities (Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Santiago-Chile, Caracas, La Havana, El Aguila and Piedras Negras, MX)

The Porto Alegre component of the project was under my coordination and that of Dr. Bruce Duncan and Maria Inês Schmidt, and Maria Inês Reinert Azambuja (field work in 1988). It was another Risk Factor survey population based, in a stratified random domiciliary sample of 1,118 individuals (from 15 to 64 years old), representative of the Capital City of Porto Alegre. The result of this survey, besides to be used for public health policy, was presented in several scientific meetings and publications and was object of several pos-graduation thesis.

One paper can be highlighted:

Duncan BB, et al.: Socioeconomic distribution of non-communicable disease risk factors in urban Brazil: the case of Porto Alegre. Bull Pan Am Health Organ. 1993;27(4):337-349.

I integrated the Ad-hoc Committee on Rheumatic Fever Prevention from the International Society and Federation of Cardiology since 1982 and I was its chairman from 1988 to 1999, updating it to the status of Council since this year. So I stayed as member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the World Heart Federation throughout the 90s'. I was also member of the ISFC-Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, and participated from two Advanced 10 days Seminar on Cardiovascular Prevention (Black-rock in Ireland and Corsendonck in Belgium).

I promoted the joint project ISFC-WHO on Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic heart Disease Prevention, extending the AGFUND-project with the same purpose. In the nineties’, with the support of Dr. Antonio Bayes de Luna, president of WHF, we developed a project joining WHF-WHO-UNESCO for Rheumatic Fever Prevention. A Basic booklet was elaborated for health professionals and lay public and translated in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thaylandese, Chinese and two more African languages:

Aloyzio Achutti, Porfirio Nordet and Suzan Van-der Vinck: Prevention of Rheumatic Fever and What do you do for Sore-throat? Paris 1992.

Simultaneously we got a grant from the European Community to apply in a project on Streptococcal Diseases Prevention in Bangladesh, integrated in an ongoing program of children health. I personally went to Bruxels to present and discuss the project with Dr. Edward Kaplan, Dr. Gustavo Lloveras and Dr. Porfirio Nordet, in the Health Commission of EC. Unhappily the amount of one million Euros was not used due to several lamentable intercurrences during at least five years of several pretexts of bureaucratic, political, difficult inter-institutional dialogue, natural disasters, war and revolution… (This is a frustrating parallel history where I learned that: not just money is necessary for thing happen)

June 1985: participation in the Travel Seminar on Health Informatics, sponsored by PAHO (Washington, Chicago and New York)

In 1985 November, Brazil representative and reporter, in the Workshop on Smoking Control in the Americas South Cone, in Buenos Aires, sponsored by PAHO:

Brazil Report (Aloyzio Achutti): on PAHO Technical Report N.2
ISBN 9275 330026 OPAS Washington, 1985.

In 1986, March and September: Coordinator of the Seminars on Health Promotion in Porto Alegre, sponsored by PAHO and UFRGS

In 1987 was published by ISFC and after reproduced by the Bulletin of the Australian Society of Cardiology and the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology the text of a background paper I presented to the WHO-CVD-Unit Steering Committee.

Aloyzio Achutti: Some Considerations about public health approaches in cardiovascular diseases - with particular emphasis on their application to the socially less privileged. HeartBeat 01,March 1987.

In 1987 May, coordinator of the Brazilian segment of a project for calculation of “Cost-Benefit” of smoking in developing countries.

In 1989, February, 24 Presentation of a background paper, by invitation to the Workshop on Adult Mortality, sponsored by the World Bank and London University. Turnbridge-Wells (UK).

Aloyzio Achutti: "On issues and Priorities for Policy and Planning in Developing Countries"

The several contacts I have had with PAHO and WHO projects were great opportunities to participate in the development of basic concepts in public health, particularly with respect to this most recent incorporation of the approach to the set of Chronic-non-communicable diseases. The circumstances were extremely favorable, allowing to observe and to collaborate with the development of a new prospect and field of work: initially the incorporation as new targets, new entities isolated trying to apply strategies of prevention secondary and primary. After, discovering cluster of diseases and his common risk factors. Following the global approach, primordial prevention and ultimately Health Promotion.

I was happy accompanying all these steps in theory and in its application locally, in my State and Country, and contemplating similar experiences in other communities. Particularly one person was really important during this period: Dr. Luiz Ruiz, PAHO officer from CVD unit, extended to chronic-non-communicable diseases, after to adult health. After he moved to the sector of Human Resources and it is possible to highlight one document where a sample of this fruitful exchange and collaboration is reported:

Panamerican Health Organization: Promoción de Liderazgo y Formación Avanzada en Salud Pública: La Prestación de Servicios de Salud. Educación Médica y Salud. V 26, No.3 (Julio/septiembre) 1992

.I was one of the four senior editors from outside of the US (together with Margarita Ronderos Torres, Sylvia C. Robles and Neil E. Collishaw) for the:

US-DHHS: 1992-Report of the Surgeon General: Smoking in the Americas (Washington, 1992)

and from the parallel book edited with co-sponsorship by PAHO in the same year, describing the problem by countries of the Americas:

PAHO: Smoking or Health in the Americas (Washington 1992).

In 1990 I collaborated with Dr John Briscoe, in the publication of a new Report on Adult Health, with two background papers and revision of the final document:

John Briscoe: Brazil, the new challenge of adult health (A World Bank country study). Washington, 1990.

In 1993 I gave two contributions to the World Bank World Development Report: on mortality and risk factors differentials related with inequalities.

World Bank: 1993-World Development Report. Investing in Health. Oxford University Press. Oxford, 1993.

In 1995, during the 2^ndInternational Conference on Heart Health in Barcelona, poster presentation on Health Promotion:

Aloyzio Achutti and Valderês Robinson Achutti: Twenty Years of Experence in Health Promotion. Barcelona 1995.

In 1997 with Dr. Bruce Duncan we coordinated in Gramado (RS) the First National Ten-Days Seminar on Epidemiology and Prevention of the Cardiovascular Diseases, in the same style of the WHF Ten-days Seminars. It was sponsored by the Government of the State, UFRGS, by the Ministry of Health, CNPq (Agency for the Scientific development) and Brazilian Society of Cardiology (SBC). It was a successful experience with participation of more than 50 fellows and faculties, generating at conclusion with the Gramado Declaration

Aloyzio Achutti et al.: Gramado Declaration. Published in the HeartBeat, in the Brazilian Archives of Cardiology and in the site of ProCOR.

Some days after the Seminar (May 17) I created and have maintained an INTERNET network, named AMICOR, initially with 23 members and now with more than 300 and more than 2500 messages sent to the list with scientific references.

On this way I knew in Toronto, during the 4thICPC (July the same year), the project ProCOR, from Professor Bernard Lown (Boston, US), with some overlapping purposes. In 2,000 he invited me to compose the International advisory Committee.

I was elected member of the RS-State Academy of Medicine in 1991, and its Vice-President in 1998-1999 and President in 1999-2000.

In June 1999, participation in a workshop on the Global Burden of Diseases, sponsored by Pfizer Co., in Vancouver Canada. Contribution with background papers and in the discussion, resulting in a publication in a special issue of the Pfizer Magazine:

Pfizer Co. (collaborator): Understanding the Global Burden of Diseases. New York, 1999.

In 2000, member of the Editorial Board and contributor to the text of the White Book of the Wrold Heart Federation.

Arun Chockalingham, Balagué Vintró et al: Impending Epidemics. Cardiovascular Diseases in the developing world. World Heart Federation. Geneva, 2000.

In 2001, Author (in collaboration) of an article on Lung Cancer in Brazil:

Eduardo Algranti, Ana Maria Baptista Menezes and Aloyzio Achutti: Lung Cancer in Brazil. Seminars in Oncology, Vol 28, No. 2 (April), 2001: pp 143-152.

In 2002, two articles in collaboration with people of ProCOR on tobacco epidemic and informatics and cardiology:

Samer Jabbour, K;. Srinath Reddy, Walinjom F.T.Muna, Aloyzio Achutti: Cardiovascular disease and the global tobacco epidemic: a wake-up call for cardiologists. Int Journal of Cardiology 86(2002) 185-192.

Samer Jabbour; Arun Chockalingham, Florêncio Garofalo, Sania Nishtar, André Wielgosz, Aloyzio Achutti:"Information and communication technology in cardiovascular disease prevention in developing countries: Hype and Hope Report of the International Collaboration on Information Use in Cardiovascular Health Promotion in Developing Countries" International Journal of Cardiology.

In 2002, Sidney, during the WHF General Assembly, in the World Congress of Cardiology I received from the President Mário de Camargo Maranhão the World Award for Cardiology, “by outstanding contributions to the field of the Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease. In grateful recognition of thirty years dedicated to the World Heart Federation”.

In 2003, another paper in collaboration with people from ProCOR:

.Samer Jabbour, Sania Nishtar, D. Praghakaran, Arun Chockalingam, Aloyzio Achutti, Abha Agrawal, Max A. Luna, Florencio Garofalo, Andreas Wielgosz: Information and Communication Technology in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Developing Countries: Hype and Hope. Report of the International Collaboration on Information Use in Cardiovascular Health Promotion in Developing Countries International Journal of Cardiology 92 (2003) 105-111. (Elsevier)

In 2004, the third Edition of a book on Ambulatory Medicine, with our collaboration since the first edition on four Chapters: Rheumatic Fever and Bacterial Endocarditis, Innocent Murmurs, Smokng and CPR

Bruce Duncan, Maria Inês Schmidt and Elsa Giugliani (chapters in collaboration): Medicina Ambulatorial. Condutas de atenção Primária baseadas em evidências. Editora Artmed. Porto Alegre, 2004.

In print is another WHO Technical Report updating Rheumatic Fever Prevention, coordinated by Dr. Shanti Mendis, with collaboration through background papers and dicussion by several world experts:

WHO: Technical Report No. Updating on Rheumatic Fever. Geneva, 2004

Contribution of our working group for the Chapter on Brazil of the publication

"A race Against Time: The challenge of CVD in Developing Columbia University.

Award Mario Rigatto from the Medical Association of Rio Grande do Sul for outstanding personalities on the control of smoking. October 21, 2004

Chronic-Non Communicable Diseases in Brazil: the Health System and the Social Security Sector. A. Achutti and MI Reinert Azambuja. Ciencia Saúde Coletiva, Vol 9 N. 4, Rio de Janeiro, Oct/Dec 2004.

Health Indicators in Brazil: Editorial Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia Vol 85 (5) 303, Nov, 2005.

Several other activities, presentations in scientific meetings, conferences, articles in: newspapers and magazines, participation in scientific and editorial boards, as well as membership in scientific and professional boards, many advisory activities in local, national, regional and international entities, ere not listed. I choose more or less one activity each year, or those necessary to understand the development process.

Many thanks to so much people, known and unknown, interacting with me to permit and foster this listed achievements. I would like to mention the name of all, but it is an impossible task.

Address:

Residential:
Av. Bastian 212
90130-020 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State. Brazil
Tel: 55-51-3233-3579
Telefax: 55-51-3233-5366
Mobil: 55-51-9966-1625

achutti@cardiol.br
aloyzio.achutti@terra.com.br
achutti@gmail.com
http://amicor.blogspot.com/

Professional:
Office (Internal Medicine and Cardiology Clinic)
Pça. Dom Feliciano 78 Room 709/710 - Porto Alegre
90020-160 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Tel: 55-51-3225-7090 or 55-51-3225-3479
Cel-phone: 55-51-9966-1625