Four research proposals related to the achievement of universal health coverage in countries of the Americas were recently selected as winners by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) short-term grants program.
Washington, D.C., 5 September 2013 (PAHO/WHO) - Four research proposals related to the achievement of universal health coverage in countries of the Americas were recently selected as winners by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) short-term grants program.
The winning proposals—from researchers in Brazil, Chile, and Trinidad and Tobago—will each receive a subsidy of up to $4,500 to finance research activities for one year. Winners were selected from more than 80 entrants from 18 countries of the Americas.
PAHO/WHO's short-term grants program seeks to strengthen capacity to carry out research on policies and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially in the areas of financing, governance, and human resources. This year's call for proposals was directed to researchers and research teams affiliated with Latin American and Caribbean institutions. The winning proposals were chosen on the basis of scientific quality, feasibility, and relevance.
The winning proposal from Brazil, submitted by Heitor Werneck of the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS), will examine financial reforms needed to ensure equitable provision of health services in the context of universal health coverage.
Two proposals from Chile were selected. One, presented by Claudio Méndez of Chile's Austral University, will seek to identify strategies for strengthening decision making in the Chilean health system. The other, submitted by María Paulina Rojas Villar of Chile's Pontifical Catholic University, will estimate supply and demand with respect to family physicians in the Chilean health system.
The proposal from Trinidad and Tobago, by Edwin Vicente Bolastig of the University of Trinidad and Tobago, seeks to identify strategies to overcome difficulties in developing a policy framework for achieving universal health coverage in the country.
In 2012, PAHO/WHO conducted three prioritization exercises involving public health researchers and decision-makers in the Americas, with the goal of identifying gaps in research on policies and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean that need to be addressed to advance universal health coverage and equitable access to health services. Similar issues were addressed in WHO's World Health Report 2013, Research for Universal Health Coverage, which called on countries to continue investing in local research in order to develop a system of universal health coverage tailored to each individual country's situation. The goal of universal health coverage, as defined in the report, is to ensure that "all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them."
PAHO was founded in 1902 and it is the world's oldest international organization of public health. It works with all countries of the continent to improve the health and life quality of the people of the region. It acts as WHO's Regional Office for the Americas and it is also the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system.
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