Celebrating 120 Years of Solidarity in Advancing Health and Well-Being, Leaving No One Behind
As Omicron sub-lineages drive a new wave of COVID-19 infections across the Americas, and cases of monkeypox continue to rise, the PAHO has called on countries to work together to meet the growing demand for vaccines, medicines, and other health equipment in the region.
The first phase of the Organization's three-step plan will focus on efforts to strengthen research and development in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in the area of mRNA vaccine development; the second, on developing a strong regional regulatory system to ensure that new medical tools are safe and effective; and for the third phase, PAHO is working with regional and international partners to create a shared roadmap to improve the production of health technology in the Americas, including partnerships with the European Union to strengthen the region’s capacity for medical product development.
However, improving manufacturing capacity alone "is not sufficient to guarantee access," thus PAHO’s pooled procurement mechanisms such as the Revolving Fund will be key to ensuring that vaccines and other health technologies are available to everyone in the region. The PAHO Revolving Fund, according to the director of the organization, shows the “impact we can have when we leverage our history of solidarity and collaboration.” With this same spirit, we can build up our region’s medical production capacity to “save and protect even more lives.”
“Manufacturing capacity will continue to be sorely needed in our Region to help deal with COVID-19 and other pathogens. There are likely to be outbreaks of other diseases that will require us to rapidly develop and deploy new vaccines, diagnostics, and drugs to fight them.”
Dr. Carissa F. Etienne
PAHO DIRECTOR 2013-2023
