Partnership will support technical cooperation addressing health priorities including tuberculosis, malaria, neglected infectious diseases, maternal and neonatal health, and strengthening of health systems over the next five years.
Washington, D.C., 17 October 2016 (PAHO/WHO) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a partnership agreement with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) under which USAID will provide more than $31 million to improve health in Latin America and the Caribbean over the next five years.
The partnership will support PAHO/WHO's technical cooperation in its Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean in areas including tuberculosis, malaria, neglected infectious diseases, maternal and neonatal health, health needs across the life course, and inequities related to gender, ethnicity and other social determinants. The agreement also supports efforts to strengthen health information systems as well as health systems overall. The PAHO-USAID umbrella agreement, which covers the period 2016 to 2021, was signed by representatives of PAHO and USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean.
"We are proud of the many health achievements that our work with USAID has produced in our member countries, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue this partnership to build on those achievements," said PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne. "We very much look forward to working together over the next five years."
PAHO/WHO and USAID have worked together for nearly three decades to improve the health and lives of people in Latin America and the Caribbean. This collaboration has led to health progress including the eradication of river blindness from several of the region's countries, continuing declines in malaria cases and deaths in 19 of the 21 endemic countries, and the attainment of most of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the same time, this joint work has also highlighted the need for innovative strategies to build further on the progress achieved.
"We are encouraged by the gains that the health sector in Latin America and the Caribbean has made in the decades since USAID first embarked on partnership with PAHO. Together, with local ministries of health, we continue to help improve affordable access to quality health care for the most vulnerable people in the region," stated Marcela Escobari, USAID's Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The new agreement will support continuing and new efforts to build strong, sustainable and equitable health systems and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the long-term goal of achieving universal health. The new agreement includes support for PAHO/WHO as technical secretariat for a Promise Renewed for the Americas, an initiative to reduce inequities and accelerate improvements in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. Other partners include UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
The partnership agreement is aligned with the PAHO Strategic Plan 2014-2019, the Organization's first results-based strategic plan, approved by its Member States. The efforts implemented through the grant will contribute to achieving key goals of the strategic plan, including ensuring safe motherhood and a healthy start for newborns and infants; reducing mortality due to poor quality of health care and communicable diseases; and eliminating priority communicable diseases in the region.
About USAID
USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. USAID works in over 100 countries to promote economic prosperity, strengthen democracy and good governance, protect human rights, improve global health, advance food security and agriculture, improve environmental sustainability, further education, help societies prevent and recover from conflicts, and provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.
About PAHO
PAHO works with the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of their populations. Founded in 1902, it serves as the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for the Americas and is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system.
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