Navy Surgeon General Vice Adm. Forrest Faison met with several senior Peruvian and U.S. officials and visited Peruvian naval medical facilities, Aug. 28-31.

Faison, who is also chief, U.S. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, was joined by Force Master Chief, Hosea Smith.

While in Peru, he conducted two all hands calls with military and civilian staff members assigned to U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 - Peru (NAMRU-6) in Lima and Iquitos, Peru and received tours of both facilities.

Faison thanked both staffs for their dedication and commented on how impressed he was with the great work they do in support of service members around the globe.

"Our Sailors and Marines have to be ready to fight in any environment to preserve peace and stability around the world," said Faison. "That's why what you do is so important. We have to keep our Sailors and Marines healthy to do their jobs. Every Sailor and Marine is important to our mission."

He also discussed how important NAMRU-6's current research efforts are to ensuring command leaders, medical planners and health care providers have the latest information related to infectious disease threats, tools and techniques available in a rapidly changing operational environment.

"Medicine is changing rapidly. The things we do to keep Sailors and Marines healthy are changing as well," said Faison. "The Navy's research commands, of which you are a part, are playing an important role looking at new ways of protecting our Sailors and Marines from infectious diseases, saving lives and keeping people healthy. You are leading a revolution in medicine."

Faison also highlighted the importance of the United States and Peru's strong relationship and efforts to grow and strengthen the bonds between the two countries.

"Our friendship with Peru, the friendship between our militaries, is not only important to preserving peace and stability in light of the global challenges we face, it is important because of our ability to respond to natural disasters to save lives," said Faison.

In addition to meeting with the Honorable Brian Nichols, U.S. Ambassador to Peru, during the four day visit, Faison also met with Rear Adm. Julio Cesar Cacho Moran, Peruvian Navy Health director; Rear Adm. Luis Enrique Saco-Vertiz, chief of staff of the General Command of Operations of the Amazon and V Naval Zone, Iquitos; and Cdr. Roxana Talledo, director of Clinica Naval in Iquitos, Peru.

Faison received a tour of the Peruvian Naval Medical Center [Centro Medico Naval] in Lima and toured Peru's medical and social services naval ship [Plataforma Itinerante de Accion Social (PIAS) Rio Morona] which conducts deployments to remote villages throughout the Amazon River.

NAMRU-6 conducts infectious disease research and surveillance throughout Latin America, providing critical information to partner nations about outbreaks and early warning signs of potential global pandemics that could impact U.S. military operations and global public health.

One of eight Navy Medicine research and development laboratories, NAMRU-6 directly supports research for the discovery, development and testing of new drugs and vaccines against malaria, Zika virus, dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses and emerging diseases. The lab is also involved in developing a novel phage therapy as treatment for multi-drug resistant infections.

Navy Medicine is a global health care network of 63,000 personnel that provides health care support to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, their families and veterans in high operational tempo environments at expeditionary medical facilities, medical treatment facilities, hospitals, clinics, hospital ships and research units around the world.