Washington, D.C., 13 April 2023 (PAHO)– Speaking at Global Health Summit Regional Meetingthe Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, repeated that cooperation, restored attention to medical care and development will be crucial to bridge spaces in access to health and conquer inequalities painfully exposed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Improving international health in today’s world needs that we continue to discover commonalities throughout sectors, disciplines, and political distinctions,” the PAHO Director stated in his remarks at the Opening Plenary of the World Health Summit Regional Meeting in Washington, DC.
“Only then will we get rid of relentless inequalities and develop health systems that can react to emerging hazards and assist us recuperate and reconstruct from the pandemic more powerful than before to attain our objective of universal health.”
These inequalities are especially apparent in the area of the Americas, Dr. Barbosa stated, where “in spite of amazing development over the previous years, health stays a pledge unfinished for a lot of individuals.”
Almost one third of individuals in the area live listed below the hardship line, and over 80% of the population resides in metropolitan locations, consisting of shanty towns with bad access to water and sanitation.
“Yet, households are still asked to cover more than one third of their healthcare expenses from their own pocket,” the PAHO Director stated. “This