Rio de Janeiro, December 5, 2024 – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is hosting the Regional Meeting on Health Accounts, from December 4–6, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event brings together public health experts, authorities, and professionals from 19 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective is to strengthen institutional capacities for measuring and utilizing health accounts to improve spending efficiency and support health systems transformation, with a focus on primary health care.
By the end of the meeting, it is expected that the conclusions will shape actionable proposals for 2025.
According to Julio Pedroza, Health Systems and Services and Human Resources for Health Advisor for PAHO/WHO in Brazil, this is the first in-person meeting on health accounts since the COVID-19 pandemic. “After five years, this is the first activity with broad participation from countries of the region. For Brazil, hosting this meeting is an opportunity to learn about the progress of studies in other countries, and to share advancements made in recent years. These efforts allow us not only to gather data on the origin, organization, and allocation of financial resources but also to use this information in public policies. This is particularly crucial for reducing out-of-pocket health expenses by individuals and families, which is one of the main causes of impoverishment in our country,” he emphasized.
Health accounts are a key tool for monitoring health expenditures, understanding their structure, and proposing improvements in policy formulation and implementation to advance universal health and strengthen the Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF).
During the meeting’s opening, Claudia Pescetto, Health Economics and Financing Advisor for PAHO, highlighted the importance of taking a systemic view of health expenditures. “We must stop viewing financing only as formulas, tools, or numbers. It must be linked to discussions on service organization, regulation, administration, and governance functions. In health, nothing is analyzed in isolation.”
Experts, health authorities, and professionals from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela are participating in the meeting.
“Opportunities like this, for exchanging experiences, help us to gather examples and understand how we can improve both our health systems and those of other countries. This will enable us to create sustainable systems that meet the health needs of the entire population,” said Hisham Mohamad Hamida, President of the Conselho Nacional de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde (Conasems). Claudia Mello, Secretary of Health of the State of Rio de Janeiro, added: “This meeting gives us the opportunity to rethink, reflect, and take advantage of the data. May we ensure moments of exchange and forward-looking dialogue to better understand financing challenges. The challenges of access to health are difficult, but everything depends on financing.”
At the end of the first day, a posthumous tribute was held for Magdalena Rathe in recognition of her contributions as a health economics researcher in Latin America and the Caribbean and her longstanding support for the development of health accounts over more than two decades. During her career, Rathe held key positions in the Dominican Republic government and served as a consultant for international organizations, including PAHO and WHO. She also founded the Fundación Plenitud.
Situation in the Americas
Despite progress in Latin America and the Caribbean, many countries still face challenges in linking health expenditures to improved outcomes and reducing the financial burden on individuals. Although out-of-pocket health spending decreased from 39% in 2000 to 30% in 2012, the percentage of people falling below the poverty line due to health expenses increased from 12.3% in 2000 to 13.3% in 2019.
Through technical cooperation, PAHO consistently supports the work of national health accounts teams. In this context, methodological documents have been developed to train and update these teams. Additionally, PAHO launched the Strategy for Building Resilient Health Systems, recognizing the need for increased and sustained financing to improve system resilience.
Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, PAHO and WHO Member States must continue efforts to enhance financing and improve the quality of public health spending.
