GENEVA, CMC – The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) says ministers of health and high-level health authorities from the Americas, including the Caribbean, have come together this week for the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss pressing health issues, including amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the creation of a global instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
PAHO said on Wednesday that the Minister of Public Health of Cuba, José Ángel Portal Miranda, stressed the urgency of genuine collaboration and investment in public health at the global level during his speech at the World Health Assembly.
In an increasingly interconnected world, the minister stressed the importance of recognizing that global health issues transcend the realm of health and influence all sectors.
“Working on a global scale is inevitable if we are to achieve a true collaborative framework between international organizations and governments,” he said, emphasizing the need for sustainable solutions and adequate financial mechanisms.
In this regard, Portal Miranda highlighted Cuba’s commitment to the negotiations associated with the legal instrument the World Health Organization (WHO) promoted to support pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response.
“Given the need to carry out actions that not only avoid the repetition of crises but also put our countries in a better position to face them, Cuba has actively participated in these negotiations,” he said.
“The world needs true cooperation and investment in public health; more than words, we need concrete actions,” added Portal Miranda, stating that only by working together “will we be able to forge a future in which health is a right accessible to all.”
For Barbados, the critical principles of equity and solidarity lie at the core of the pandemic treaty, as said by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Wellness of Barbados, Wayne Marshall.
“There is, therefore, a need to fully recognize the special circumstances of SIDS and least developed countries about pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary underscored that WHO’s pursuit of addressing these concerns “must remain at the forefront of its efforts to ensure no Member State is left behind” and urged WHO to face global challenges head-on “so the peoples of the world become ever more resilient and protected.”
Expressing Haiti’s “resolute commitment to the negotiations of the first global agreement in history that aims to protect communities, countries, and the planet from the threat related to pandemics,” Permanent Representative of Haiti to the UN in Geneva, Justin Viard, outlined the importance of international collaboration.
“It is important for our generation to be able to implement the promise of the sustainable development goals, which will require healthcare systems that are resilient and stable, with equitable access to innovation and care, and that can overcome the risks related to pandemics and the climate crisis,” he said.
Inequality, as well as “armed conflict and avoidable epidemics, have a significant impact on healthcare systems, as well as on the populations they serve,” the Permanent Representative added. This “must be eliminated if we want to pass onto future generations a planet where life will be possible.”
The Minister of Health and Wellness of the Bahamas, Michael Darville, highlighted the vulnerability of small island developing states to climate change-related events.
“Our population is dispersed over more than 30 islands, which presents particular challenges when it comes to accessibility and health equity,” he said.
Underscoring the country’s recovery from Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic, Darville said, “The mental, social, and economic fallout left in the wake of these devastating national disasters reinforces my country’s commitment to WHO’s agenda to promote economic recovery and revitalize healthcare delivery systems through universal health coverage.”
He said the Bahamas had been placed in a “repetitive pattern of borrowing to repair and rebuild our healthcare infrastructure after each hurricane.
“Reducing carbon footprints is therefore critical for healthcare delivery in small island developing states like ours,” Darville added.
Thanking WHO and PAHO for their continued support in health emergencies and the implementation of the IHR, Chief Medical Officer of St. Kitts and Nevis, Hazel Laws, underscored the country’s efforts to develop a strategic health plan, which will include a roadmap for ensuring a health system that can withstand any health emergency while maintaining essential services.
For St. Kitts and Nevis, while addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a priority, “with 84 percent of mortality attributed to NCDs over the period 2017-2021,” Laws said the country is also “plagued by communicable diseases such as HIV and dengue.”
The Chief Medical Officer highlighted the country’s efforts to scale up its NCD response by tackling risk factors.
She said this has been made possible thanks to partnerships with WHO and PAHO.
Steadfast in its commitment to universal health, the Charge d’Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Trinidad and Tobago to the UN in Geneva, Allison St. Brice, highlighted the country’s commitment to free universal primary healthcare for all its citizens.
She said Trinidad and Tobago “ensures that all health services are optimized and that medical treatments, education, practices, and policies are relevant, innovative, technology-driven and, most importantly, accessible.”
St. Brice also underscored efforts to transform national blood transfusion services. She said this has increased voluntary donors from 0.5 percent in 2022 to 9.5 percent to date.
Regarding NCDs, she said, “We have strengthened our focus on behavior change strategies,” with the country’s healthy lifestyle movement continuing to gain momentum nationwide.
St. Brice said Trinidad and Tobago will “continue to focus on delivering quality health care services for all as part of the broader push to achieve the WHO SDG targets by 2030.”
Reaffirming its “unwavering commitment to universal health access and coverage,” the Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Clair Prince, underscored the country’s vision of a health care system as one “built on access and equity and tailored to our specific context.”
While acknowledging “notable progress towards achieving health for all,” including addressing equity and expanding healthcare infrastructure, Prince said achieving significant improvement will require the country to tackle disparities.
He also highlighted achievements, including the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, a reduction in infant and child mortality, and increased life expectancy.
Prince said that moving forward, St. Vincent and the Grenadines will continue to implement policy measures to reduce the risk factors for NCDs.
Congratulating WHO for the successful launch of its investment round – “a bold step in the right direction,” Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Christopher Tufton, urged more significant commitment from the global community “as the timeline for achieving the SDGs inches closer.”
Regarding Jamaica’s focus on primary health care, the minister highlighted the country’s development of a hospital model that decentralizes specialist services, “ensuring easier access and decreased waiting times for high-demand services, including the management of illnesses that contribute to our mortality and morbidity burden.”
For Tufton, one of the most urgent priorities for Jamaica and other SIDS is to address the issue of human resources for health, which “are threatening to erode the gains made.”
During his intervention, he called on WHO to “strengthen its efforts to help small countries develop resilience through forging partnerships with training institutions, accreditation bodies, clinical training, and training of trainers to enable the number [of health personnel] trained in small countries to satisfy their needs.”
“Achieving health for all requires all hands on deck to solve this decades-old problem,” Tufton said.
During her intervention, Shanti Singh, a representative from the Guyana delegation, urged countries to adopt the amendments to the IHR 2005 and pledged the country’s support in providing the negotiators with extra time “to complete the job of getting a new pandemic treaty.”
Singh highlighted Guyana’s progress in various areas, including the expansion of its NCD program to include mental health and cancers and its work towards eliminating several neglected diseases before 2030.
“We have seen the impact of the investments we are making,” she said, such as “a decline in maternal and neonatal mortality and an increase in life expectancy.”
However, despite the demonstrable progress, Singh said, “We remain vulnerable to the impact of climate change on our health systems, the resurgence of diseases such as dengue, the emerging AMR crisis, the migration of skilled healthcare workers, and the access to affordable pharmaceuticals, reagents, and equipment.”
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