Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½

Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ launched the Elimination Initiative (EI) in 2019 to accelerate the elimination of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in the Americas by 2030. The year 2024 marked the midpoint of the initiative.

Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ provides countries and territories with technical assistance, funding mobilization, and policy guidance to achieve disease elimination targets. The EI aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG Target 3.3 of ending epidemics of communicable diseases by 2030.

The EI builds on past successes in disease control and elimination. In fact, the Americas became the first region in the world to eliminate rubella, congenital rubella syndrome (both in 2015), and measles (in 2016). Smallpox was eliminated in 1973 (and eradicated in 1980), and polio in 1994.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health interventions and set back progress. However, in 2024, the EI regained momentum to accelerate disease elimination and build on the Region’s past successes.

The digital revolution is transforming public health in the Americas, enhancing surveillance, healthcare delivery and accessibility, efficiency, and patient-centered care.

However, digital transformation demands massive cultural changes and major investments alongside improvement in the Region’s human capital. This transformation must be implemented looking at all opportunities, especially those associated with closing gaps such as barriers in access to care, while at the same time always looking to potential inequalities that may arise or increase due to the digital divide; for instance, urban and rural regions, age, and socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

As digital health transformation is being positioned at the highest level of technical and political agendas, Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ is leading efforts to accelerate the process and to close gaps and promote data-driven decision-making to improve health outcomes. To that end, it has launched a number of initiatives to promote the digital transformation of the health sector in the Region.

One critical element of this approach is strategic partnerships. The digital transformation is a complex process that requires not only massive resource mobilization and expertise, but also a whole-of-government approach and the harmonic digital transformation of all sectors, an issue that was highlighted and prioritized at the G20 meeting in Brazil in September 2024. Although Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ works with numerous organizations and institutions in both the private, government, and multilateral realms, its collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plays a special role in terms of digital strategies and capabilities at regional, subregional, and national levels.

Strategic collaboration between Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ and the IDB

New agreement

Based on the lessons learned on the Information Systems for Health initiative, in April 2024, Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ and the IDB signed an agreement with three objectives:

1

Accelerate the digital transformation of the health sector

2

Strengthen primary health care

3

Enhance pandemic preparedness across the Region

Under the agreement, both organizations deliver technical, financial, and operational assistance to provide digital health tools to improve healthcare access and coverage, and make evidence-based public health decisions.

The collaboration between Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ and the IDB goes beyond technology. It includes working together to strengthen countries’ capacity to prepare and respond to health emergencies and disasters. This entails activities such as collaborating to support countries in the implementation of voluntary Joint External Evaluations of core capacities of the International Health Regulations, as well as in the preparation of technical proposals for submission to the Pandemic Fund.

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• NCDs account for 38% of premature deaths and 65% of all deaths in the Americas, and eventually expected to exceed 80% of all deaths.

 

• Cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases are the leading causes of NCD deaths in the Americas. Especially worrisome is the dramatic increase of diabetes prevalence in Latin America and the Caribbean, driven largely by the high rates of obesity.

 

• Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ estimates that approximately 40% of deaths related to NCDs in the Region could be prevented through primary prevention, early diagnosis and better access to continuous care and treatment, much of which can be delivered through primary health care.

The year 2024 was the first full year of implementation of the initiative Better Care for NCDs: Accelerating actions in primary health care, which aims to expand access to NCD services by integrating them into the primary health care (PHC) systems of the Region's countries and territories.

NCDs have dramatically grown in importance as factors of public health risk, and economic impact due to loss in workforce, productivity and health care costs. By tackling them, Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ has intervened in the most important cause of death and disabilities in the Americas, which also have a strong impact on the economies of the countries and communities.

Addressing NCDs involves promoting public health policies to reduce the common risk factors – tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diets – and also strengthening health systems to provide quality care for NCDs in PHC, with referral systems for higher level care, along with surveillance and monitoring.

An estimated 240 million people are living with NCDs and a significant proportion remain undiagnosed and untreated. To address this gap in NCD diagnosis and treatment, Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ has encouraged its Member States to adopt the Better Care for NCDs initiative.

As with many other Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ initiatives, Better Care for NCDs relies on PHC services, as these are considered the best way to reach the majority of people and communities for common health problems that require continuous treatment, such as NCDs.

Strategy

TThe initiative has three overall objectives:

1

For governments

Strengthen national governments’ capacity to plan and integrate comprehensive NCD services into PHC.

2

For PHC services

Increase their capability to deliver quality NCD diagnosis, treatment and care.

3

For health care facilities

Improve the collection of data and monitoring of people with NCDs.

The targeted areas are:

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Diabetes
• Chronic respiratory diseases
• Cervical cancer prevention (HPV immunization) and screening
• Health promotion, counseling, and education

Better Care for NCDs showcases how Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ uses its resources in an integrated fashion and builds up new projects on preexisting ones.

The year 2024 was a critical one for the RRFs in terms of:

The new priorities set for the RRFs are:

1

Establish global and/or regional supply agreements for rapid response.

2

Reduce supply chain disruptions in emergency situations and transportation costs through a regional strategic supplies stockpile.

3

Strengthen innovation with a regional perspective to increase access to essential health products and supply chains.

Enhancing the Region’s industrial and technological independence

Thanks to their ability to consolidate regional demand and facilitate partnerships, the RRFs play a critical role in creating ecosystems that, in turn, can enhance access in the Region.

Regional Innovation and Production of Health Technologies
Strengthening regional resilience and equitable access

© Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½

The Region of the Americas has important manufacturing capacities but regional access to these health technologies is limited, and we still face important dependency on external essential health technologies and inputs that negatively impact equitable access and regional resilience:

These structural weaknesses became painfully evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when regional needs and global demand collided with widespread supply chain disruptions. The Region experienced severe shortages and inequitable access to vaccines and other health technologies, highlighting the urgent need for greater regional innovation and manufacturing capacities.

In response, in 2021, the Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ 59th Directing Council approved the policy document "Increasing production capacity for essential medicines and health technologies" and the corresponding resolution CD59.R3. These documents provide a common and sustainable framework with prioritized strategic lines of action to orient and guide the countries of the Region in their work. Implementing this mandate, in 2023 Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ launched the Special Program, Innovation and Regional Production Platform.

The power of regional coordination

A key advantage of Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½'s approach is leveraging existing regional mechanisms like its Regional Revolving Funds. These mechanisms consolidate regional demand, providing predictability for manufacturers, and creating economies of scale that reduce prices. In 2024 Member States added new flexibilities to the Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ Regional Revolving Funds to promote local production. In 2024, this coordinated approach facilitated the agreement between Pfizer, Argentina's Sinergium Biotech, and Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½.

Zero Preventable Maternal Deaths

© Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½

This ongoing situation complicates efforts to achieve the regional goal of the Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½â€™s Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas of 30 deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030, launched by the Region's countries in 2017 and endorsed by Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½. Achieving that level would be necessary to reach SDG Target 3.1 of a global MMR of 70 by 2030.

A call for action

The six strategic lines of action are:

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The Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½ Call for Action also emphasizes other essential conditions to reduce maternal mortality in the Region:

• Strong political commitment with adequate funding that prioritizes women's health;
• Intersectoral collaboration to address social, cultural, economic and legal barriers to maternal healthcare access;
• Effective social mobilization strategies that engage civil society to increase visibility of maternal health issues and build social capital.