PAHO Director underscores transatlantic partnerships to address present and future health challenges – PAHO/WHO

Berlin, Germany, October 17, 2023 (PAHO) – At the 2023 World Health Summit in Berlin, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, highlighted the need for strong alliances between regions to increase health access and equity, especially as countries work to increase preparedness and response to future health threats.

“Countries in the Americas still struggle with inequalities in access to health, education and social protection, while facing significant demographic changes, including an aging population in need of long-term health and social care,” said the PAHO Director in a session organized by the M8 Alliance, George Washington University and the University of Montreal, titled “Transatlantic Lessons for Global Health: From DC to Berlin,” during the global health meeting.

These obstacles present an enormous challenge to the sustainability of health systems in the region, added Dr. Barbosa, which can only be addressed through strategic alliances, such as the agreement signed between PAHO and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. United States (HHS). and the WHO Regional Office for Europe earlier this year.

The tripartite collaboration seeks to promote a common health agenda, including networks to mobilize capacities in Europe and the Americas for the response to the pandemic, as well as the mobilization of health personnel and joint actions to address climate change and resistance to climate change. antimicrobials and promote the health of migrants and refugees.

It also seeks to optimize commitment to develop regional manufacturing capacity for medicines, vaccines and health technologies, a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, which left many Latin American and Caribbean countries vulnerable with limited health supplies.

While the partnership could benefit the most vulnerable countries in the Americas, the PAHO Director also highlighted areas where regional experience could benefit others. He recalled that, for more than 40 years, the countries of the Americas have pooled the acquisition of vaccines through the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds, and the advantage is “evident in the elimination in the Region of several diseases preventable by vaccination, and in the continued control and prevention of HIV.” /AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.”

In addition, the PAHO Virtual Campus, an educational platform designed to improve technical cooperation with our Member States, reaches more than 2.5 million health workers in the region, added the Director, strengthening capacities in prevention and managing COVID-19 and expanding access to NCD care. and treatment and strengthening of regulatory capacity in the countries, among others.

«I know that as our regions continue to participate in forums like the World Health Summit, both here in Berlin and in Washington DC, we can further benefit the health and well-being of all the people of the Americas and Europe,» said the Dr. Barbossa said.

During the event, Loyce Pace, US HHS Undersecretary for Global Affairs, reiterated that such collaborative frameworks allow us to move closer and take concrete action on priority issues, such as One Health, but also accelerate progress in areas such as healthcare. manufacturing.

Dr Gundo Aurel Weiler, Director of Country Support at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, underlined that COVID-19 showed us how closely linked countries are on their domestic health issues. These include health misinformation, pandemic preparedness and inequality, among others, and strong partnerships would allow us to keep health “at the center of social and economic development” on the global agenda.

Speaking about the key role of academia in providing the research, data and innovation needed to address global health challenges, Prof. Dr. Hélène Boisjoly, Board of Directors and former Dean of Medicine at the University of Montreal, Canada, reiterated that: To build health systems that are based on people’s needs, collaboration between the public health sector, academia and industries would be key.

«It is clear that we need to collectively establish a collaborative approach to strengthen health security, health equity and the global health architecture we share,» Dr. Barbosa said in his closing remarks. “If we do not take inequalities into account, no public health policy will be successful. If we do not identify barriers – cultural, social or economic – and develop strategies to address them, we will always leave some population groups behind,” he stated.

During the 2023 World Health Summit, the PAHO Director also presented the PAHO Elimination Initiative, which aims to eliminate 30 diseases and related conditions from the Americas by 2030, including malaria, mother-to-child transmission of HIV and cervical cancer, along with several neglected tropical diseases.

He also held meetings with representatives of the Public Health Agency of Canada, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the French Development Agency (AFD), the German Development Agency (GIZ), as well as with representatives of Google Health and Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, among others.