Washington DC, 3 June 2024 (PAHO) –The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) organized a side event at the 3rd Meeting of the G20 Health Working Group in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, focusing on “Sustainable Financing for Primary Health Care (PHC): building the foundation of Resilient Health Systems”. Hosted by the Alliance for Primary Health Care, the event brought together experts and representatives from G20 countries and beyond to examine how countries are strengthening the resiliency of their health systems through targeted investments in PHC.
The program featured two comprehensive panels highlighting collaborative efforts and innovations aimed at increasing and improving investments in PHC, while addressing inequities in health access at both national and sub-national levels. Moderated by Mariana Faria, Senior Advisor, External Relations, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization, PAHO/WHO, the first panel included Luis Alberto Martinez, Vice Minister of Social Protection, Ministry of Health, Colombia; Bernardo Martorell, Coordinator Health Reform Team, Ministry of Health, Chile; and Evellin Bezerra da Silva, Director, Department of Community Health Strategies and Policies, Secretariat of Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health of Brazil. Key strategies discussed included reforms in health financing, upgrades in health infrastructure, the deployment of digital health technologies, and investments in the health workforce and interprofessional teams.
Representatives of the Alliance, Ernesto Báscolo, Unit Chief of the Primary Health Care and Integrated Service Delivery at PAHO/WHO; Marcella Distrutti, Senior Health Specialist in Social Protection and Health at the IDB; and Jeremy Veillard, Lead Health Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, noted the benefits of coordinated action in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Alliance collaborates and works with health authorities in several countries in the Region to advance national health planning based on PHC with a territorial perspective, developing investments plans to this end in multiple areas that include the priorities identified by the G20 Brazilian Presidency.
“The pandemic underscored the urgent need to move forward boldly with investments in Primary Health Care as the foundational component of resilient heath systems,” said Báscolo. “Given the complex economic and fiscal situation in countries it became clear that the international community needed to focus on enabling strategic alliances, such as the Alliance for PHC, to support countries in navigating the challenging road to achieve structural and transformative actions based on PHC toward universal health,” he added.
“This strategic partnership has given a renewed impetus to the dialogue between Finance and Health ministries around concrete deliverables that support PHC as a core element of the health systems strengthening agenda,” said Ernesto Báscolo.
The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas was established in December of 2023 between PAHO, the IDB, and the World Bank. It aims to bolster investment, innovation, and implementation of policies and initiatives to transform health systems in the Region, with a strong emphasis on primary health care.
