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Biography 

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Academic Training

Doctor of medicine and surgery. Universidad del Valle School of Medicine. Cali - Colombia

Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Universidad del Valle. Cali - Colombia

Postgraduate in Perinatology. Scientific Bases for the Comprehensive Care of Mother, Fetus and Newborn. Universidad de la República Oriental de Uruguay. Montevideo - Uruguay.

Master of Public Health. Universidad del Valle. Cali - Colombia

Profile

Associate professor at the Universidad del Valle since 1984, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the same faculty, author of multiple publications in indexed texts or journals.

Between the years 1997and 2000 appointed as Secretary of Public Health of Santiago de Cali. Colombia, a period in which he was designated as Mayor in Charge of the city in two occasions.

President of the Colombian Federation of Perinatology- FECOPEN (1995-1997), President of the Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology - FECOLSOG (2014-2016), President of the Latin American Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology  - FLASOG (2014-2017), representative of Latin America for the FIGO Board of Directors since 2014 and currently Vice President of the Scientific Committee of Congress 2021 of the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology-FIGO (2018-2021).

Consultant for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Colombian Ministry of Health to design strategies and public policies aimed at reducing maternal and perinatal mortality.

Leader in the design and implementation in Colombia and Latin America of the "surveillance of extremely serious maternal morbidity", as a complement to the analysis of maternal deaths, which was adopted by the Latin American Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology - FLASOG in the year 2007 under the denomination of “extreme maternal morbidity - MME”.

Since then, the monitoring and surveillance of MME has been considered by international cooperation organizations worldwide as a key event to reduce maternal mortality and has been incorporated by the Ministries of Health of most Latin American countries as a mandatory notification event, within the action plans for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030.

Under the auspices of the Colombian Ministry of Health in a cooperation agreement with the United Nations Population Fund-UNFPA, He designed the security model for the care of obstetric emergencies in health institutions, where MME is considered a It is an indication of unsafe care and it becomes a tracer event for quality in the care process, favoring, from its analysis, progress towards interventions that seek the clinical safety of obstetric care.

In the last 10 years, the action plans elaborated and executed from the implementation of this model have contributed to the reduction of maternal mortality in Latin America and this relevant contribution allowed him to be recognized internationally and be a permanent lecturer at congresses of the specialty as well as at technical meetings related to the subject throughout the American Continent.

As the Latin American representative to the FIGO Board of Directors, he has supported the transformation of the organization and has actively participated in the development and approval of initiatives that will guarantee the continuous improvement of FIGO. His knowledge of the Latin American region reality and his leadership in the region will be very useful for the harmonious work that allows greater support from FIGO to the initiatives aimed to promote the clinical safety of obstetric care as a key strategy for the reduction of maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries.

Acknowledgements

DIPLOMA OF HONOR TO PERINATAL MERIT, awarded by the Colombian Federation of Perinatology - FECOPEN. Cartagena, Colombia 2003.

MASTER OF GYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS OF VALLE DEL CAUCA awarded by the Valle del Cauca Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology - SOVOGIN. Cali, Colombia, 2011.

DISTINGUISHED LATIN AMERICAN PROFESSOR awarded by the Latin American Federation of Perinatology - FLAMP. Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2016.

MASTER OF GYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS OF COLOMBIA awarded by the Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology - FECOLSOG. Cali, Colombia 2017.

HONORARY MEMBER. Awarded by the Spanish Contraception Society - SEC. Alicante, Spain, 2017.

HONORARY PROFESSOR OF THE UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE. Awarded by the Superior Council of the Universidad del Valle. Cali, Colombia, 2020