Brasília, 24 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The representative of the Panamerican Health Organization (Opas) in Brazil, Jacob Finkelman, said yesterday (23) that Brazil has the best prevention program for hypertension and diabetes in the world. "It [being in Brazil] has been a marvelous experience. I have just not seen a better program in the world," he said.

The prevention programs are educational and diagnostical. The last campaigns, in 2001, tested almost 21 million Brazilians for diabetes (identifying 3.2 million suspected cases) and 11 million for hypertension (identifying 4 million possible cases). The Brazilian Family Health Program has 15,000 teams of doctors and assistants who assist 50 million people with their health problems. (AB)