Washington, DC, 19 April 2023 (PAHO)- On April 11th, the Second Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Regional Platform to Advance the Manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccines and other Health Technologies in the Americas took place.
The Advisory Committee of the Regional Platform is a consultative mechanism that provides technical advice to the Director of PAHO regarding the work agenda of the Platform and is integrated by experts in health, science, technology, finance, and industry.
In August 2021, at the request of Member States, PAHO launched the Regional Platform for Advancing the Production of Vaccines and Other Health Technologies for COVID-19 in the Americas. This collaborative Platform convenes public and private stakeholders to support expanding research, development, and manufacturing of vaccines and other health technologies in the Region.
During the meeting, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr, PAHO Director, thanked the members of the Committee for their participation and highlighted the main challenges around rethinking the production of medicines and health technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean from a public health perspective.
In his presentation, Dr. Barbosa highlighted that the Region of the Americas was the pandemic's epicenter due to poverty and inequalities aggravated by unequal access to vaccines and other health technologies. In response, two of the five strategic pillars guiding PAHO's work in the coming years are to apply lessons learned to be better prepared for future emergencies and to improve rapid and equitable access to health innovations.
PAHO has recently modified its organizational structure in line with these priorities by creating the "Department of Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies," which includes a "Special Program" for innovation and production. PAHO will support increasing health technology production capacities in Latin America and the Caribbean to improve access to health, reduce inequalities and promote knowledge-based economic development.
Following the Director's intervention, James Fitzgerald, Director of Health Systems and Services at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), provided an update on the work accomplished and the priority lines of work for 2023 and 2024, focused on vaccine issues, development, manufacturing, and immunization; and highlighted PAHO's effort to support training and technology transfer by strengthening regional supply chains and improving access to much-needed vaccines, medicines and other medical supplies in the Region of the Americas.
After the presentation, Dr. Hector Castro, Director a.i. of the Department of Innovation and Access to Medicines and Health Technologies at Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), moderated the discussion among the experts, who gave their points of view on the challenges faced in the Region concerning production capacities and the priorities to be addressed by the Regional Platform.
During the meeting, Mario Moreira (FIOCRUZ) was elected president of the Advisory Committee, and Karin Bok (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - NIAID) was elected vice president; PAHO will provide support as Secretariat of the Committee.
This activity was made possible thanks to Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
