Washington DC., June 27, 2023—The multi-country workshop on “Financing UHC Amidst Multiple Shocks: Health Financing Knowledge Exchange for the Caribbean and Central America” took place on June 7-9 in Washington, DC. The objective was to facilitate the exchange of regional perspectives on why to invest in health and share experiences on how to finance universal health coverage (UHC) during a crisis. The event was attended by high-level policymakers and senior professionals from the health and finance ministries of Belize, Costa Rica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines.
The event brought together experts from the World Bank Group, the OECD, development partners, and researchers from the region and the world. A special invitation was extended for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) participation with Regional, Subregional, and country-level interventions and the World Health Organization (WHO) Geneva Health Financing Team.
The workshop World Bank Latin America and Caribbean Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Team organized the workshop in the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) context.
The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters endemic to the region have triggered the interest of several Caribbean countries in embarking on ambitious health financing reform initiatives. The event served as a platform for a regional exchange to inform countries’ reform s goals and foster regional collaboration in the Caribbean and beyond.
PAHO/WHO participants and topics:
Claudia Pescetto, Regional Advisor, Health Economics and Financing, Health Systems and Services, PAHO/WHO:
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Review of Health Financing Principles Applied - Regional Challenges and Opportunities
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Experiences with National Health Accounts in the Caribbean and Central America
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Moderator in the “The Political Economy of Investing in Health, Driving Health Financing Reforms” session
Rosa Sandoval, Specialist on Tobacco Control, PAHO/WHO, was a moderator in the “Diversifying Revenue Sources for UHC: Experiences with Health Taxes” session
Guillermo A. Sandoval, Advisor, Health Economics and Financing, Office of the Subregional Program Coordination, Caribbean, PAHO/WHO:
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Public Debt Informal Economy and Health Financing in Small Island Developing States
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Belize: Fiscal Space Analysis (country case)
Gustavo Mery, Advisor, Health Systems and Services in Costa Rica Office PAHO/WHO:
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Lessons from Public Health Expenditure Reviews in Costa Rica
Susan Sparkes, Health Financing Team, WHO, Geneva:
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The political economy of health financing reform
