Washington, D.C., 30 September 2024 - On the occasion of the 61st Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), health ministers and delegations from member states met today in Washington DC to review the progress made through the Elimination Initiative (EI). The Global Fund and other partners expressed their continued support for this initiative.
Launched in September 2019, PAHO’s EI, is a groundbreaking effort aimed at eliminating more than 30 communicable diseases in the Americas by 2030. This initiative offers countries in the region an important opportunity to accelerate progress toward achieving multi-disease elimination targets, especially as they recover from setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The purpose of the EI is not just to eliminate the targeted diseases but to save lives. The EI aims to ensure the provision of integrated health services and address social determinants that perpetuate the occurrence of these diseases, particularly in populations living in vulnerable situations.” Sylvain Aldighieri, Director of Communicable Diseases Prevention, Control, and Elimination Department at PAHO. “It builds on our track record of decades of successful disease elimination in the Americas and is catalyzing the political will and technical capacity to do so for several other diseases.”
Since its inception in 2002, the Global Fund has been supporting the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria in the Latin American and Caribbean region. It has mobilized support of US$3,230 million across 24 countries (including countries from multicountry grants). The EI can leverage the Global Fund’s significant investments in HIV, TB, malaria which have contributed to building and strengthening health and community systems across the region.
“Partnering with PAHO’s EI initiative allows us to ensure that Global Fund investments are sustained and used efficiently in the region,” said Giulia Perrone, Regional Manager, Latin America and Caribbean Team at the Global Fund. “The health and community systems we support for HIV, TB and malaria have been instrumental in enabling a swift and effective response to COVID-19. Increasingly, integrated health systems and services, including at community level, can simultaneously and effectively detect and treat other diseases, and ensure that countries are better prepared for future health challenges”.
By supporting cross-cutting health system components and strengthening community capacity through optimized investments in countries, the Global Fund significantly contributes to advancing PAHO’s Elimination initiative. Empowering countries to respond effectively to overlapping communicable diseases will drive sustainability and long-term success in disease elimination across the Region of the Americas.
For more information, visit the EI page.
