PAHO

On August 7, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) endorsed the health plans developed by Mexico and Brazil, including the creation of the Mexican Institute of Health for Well-Being (INSABI for its acronym in Spanish), and the debate under way in Brazil on public health financing and the strengthening of the Unified Health System (SUS). Both plans represent a drive to achieve Universal Health Coverage in Latin America’s two largest countries.

The creation of the new health system proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador received PAHO support at the outset of the Chamber Deputies’ Open Parliament public hearings held to analyze the creation of the INSABI from August 7 to 9. Cristian Roberto Morales Fuhrimann, the PAHO representative in Mexico, pointed out that the health proposal presented by the federal government “coincides with our recommendations at the PAHO. This should be a source of hope for all of us, not only for Mexico but also for America.”  One of INSABI’s key mandates is to create mechanisms to regulate the private sector, remove barriers to universal access to health and guarantee access to quality medicines for the entire population.

From August 4-7, PAHO also participated in the XVI Health Conference in Brazil, held for representatives of civil society, government authorities, and specialists. Socorro Gross, PAHO’s representative in Brazil, emphasized that “the SUS arises from a key democratic process, which recognizes that everyone may exercise their right to enjoy the highest possible standard of health.” The discussions at the event focused on the report presented by the National Health Council (NHA), which defined the following thematic axes: health as a constitutional right, the consolidation of the principles of the Unified Health System (SUS), and its financing.