PANAMA

On December 10, Panama assumed the Pro-Tempore Presidency of the Council of Health Ministers of Central America (COMISCA in Spanish), part of the Central American Integration System (SICA in Spanish). The term of office will run from January to June 2022. During his acceptance speech, the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, said that from this position he will promote the design of a regional telehealth and digital health project.

Regarding the telemedicine initiative, the Minister of Health mentioned that the objective is to “improve care with the help of technology and artificial intelligence, as is being implemented in Panama”. The project proposed by Sucre is in line with previous statements by the Minister to establish a regional telehealth center, promoting legislation similar to Panama’s Telehealth Law, enacted in March 2021.

On the other hand, he mentioned the creation of a Regional Observatory of Public Policies for Central American Integration, which would contain a system of indicators that would allow measurements to be taken and facilitate an inter-regional traceability scheme.