Happy Holidays 2024 From PAHO
Dear friends, colleagues, and valued partners,
As we approach the holiday season and reflect on another year of collaboration and solidarity in health in the Region of the Americas, I would like to take a moment to highlight key achievements of 2024 and express my gratitude for the collective efforts that drive our progress.
This year marks the first since 2020 without COVID-19 as a global health emergency, yet it has been a year of intense focus on recovery, particularly here in the Americas. PAHO has been working tirelessly to support countries in strengthening their pandemic preparedness and response, ensuring the lessons learned from the pandemic are applied region wide.
In line with global efforts, such as amendments to the International Health Regulations and ongoing negotiations for the new Pandemic Agreement within WHO, this year PAHO has been at the forefront of advocating for and supporting countries in the Region.
Throughout 2024, PAHO has focused on obtaining critical resources for disease surveillance, early warning systems, and other essential projects. Through the Pandemic Fund, we helped secure over US$84 million in financing for five new projects in Latin America and the Caribbean – to enhance surveillance, improve laboratories, and build a stronger health workforce, among other activities.
Our continued efforts to reduce dependence on imported vaccines and health technologies have remained central to our agenda: In October, PAHO Member States approved a landmark resolution aimed at accelerating access to health technologies through the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds, boosting regional self-sufficiency and fostering local innovation.
In the area of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for around 34% of premature deaths in our Region, we have made notable strides with the Better Care for NCDs Initiative. This initiative, which aims to integrate NCDs into primary health care, saw 33 countries adopt the HEARTS strategy, with 8 already implementing it within their PHC networks. Additionally, the launch of The Alliance for Primary Health Care, a joint effort with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, has enabled 10 countries to improve their primary health care systems through this strategic coordination mechanism.
The impact of climate change on health has also been a major focus for us this year, including at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Extreme weather events are already taking a toll on our Region, particularly on the Caribbean’s small island states. Ensuring that health systems become greener and more climate-resistant is no longer optional; it’s imperative.
In terms of infectious diseases, 2024 has seen record levels of denguecases in the Americas, driven partly by rising temperatures. However, thanks to the efforts of countries, our region’s robust surveillance systems, and PAHO’s training and guidance on surveillance, clinical management and prevention, the Americas has kept mortality rates among the lowest in the world.
This year, our region’s efforts towards disease elimination have remained strong: In 2024, the Americas regained its status as free of endemic measles, with Brazil recently reverified as free of the disease. We celebrated 30 years without wild polio; Belize, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, and Brazil eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem.
These achievements are all part of PAHO’s elimination initiative, which targets the elimination of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions by 2030. Cervical cancer, which takes the lives of around 40,000 women in the Americas each year, is also a key focus of this initiative. Through innovative strategies based on HPV vaccination, screening, and treatment, we are offering countries a clear path to eliminate this unacceptable health issue. Together, we can end cervical cancer in the Region of the Americas.
Our work in the area of digital health has also continued to flourish this year. Thanks to our partnership with the IDB, we are working with 20 countries on the implementation of our Information Systems for Health Framework. Our All-in-One Telehealth Package, offered through our Regional Revolving Funds, is also helping to bring specialized health care into the most remote parts of our Region.
As we move into the 21st century, our updated PAHO Forward Initiative will be key to ensuring efficiency, transparency, and accountability improvements so we remain at the forefront of addressing the region’s most pressing health challenges.
Despite the passage of time, the themes that drive our work remain as relevant today as they were 122 years ago, when our organization was created. PAHO continues to make significant strides toward achieving these ambitious goals thanks to your ongoing collaboration and commitment.
On behalf of everyone at PAHO, I wish you all a joyful and restful holiday season and look forward to continuing our shared work in 2025. Together, we can ensure that every person, everywhere in the Americas, leads a healthy and productive life. Equity will remain at the heart of our efforts to achieve health for all.
Warm regards,
Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr.
Director
Pan American Health Organization
screenshot. To view video click HERE
Pandemic preparedness and response, equity among key topics for the Americas at Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly
Building on the lessons from COVID-19, countries from the Americas strongly engaged in decisions to better prepare against present and future health challenges, including pandemics, climate change and growing antibiotic resistance, and to promote universal health coverage at the global health gathering.
New Pandemic Fund grants to help bolster pandemic preparedness and response for countries of the Americas
As part of its second round of funding, released on 18 October 2024, the Pandemic Fund (PF) has approved five new projects for Latin America and the Caribbean, aimed at improving countries’ preparedness for future pandemics.
Countries of the Americas agree on measures to encourage innovation and regional production of health technologies
High-level health authorities in the Americas on October 3, 2024, agreed on a resolution to grant greater flexibility to the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) Regional Revolving Funds to accelerate access to health technologies. These measures are designed to boost self-sufficiency through the regional production of health supplies and foster innovation in response to emergencies and outbreaks.
Better Care for NCDs Initiative
Accelerating Actions in Primary Health Care.
Strengthening the integration of NCDs into Primary Health Care represents a key milestone in a country’s health system response to the Sustainable Development Agenda, with the aim of leaving no one behind.
The Elimination Initiative
At PAHO, we aim to end more than 30 diseases and related conditions by 2030. The Elimination Initiative is an innovative policy that promotes an integrated, sustainable approach to accelerate progress towards elimination in the Region of the Americas.
All-in-One Telehealth Package
Strengthening Public Health actions with integrated platforms, essential equipment, and tools for effective digital care.
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The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) works with the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of its population. Founded in 1902, it is the world’s oldest international public health agency. It serves as the Regional Office of WHO for the Americas and is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system.
