Washington D.C., 10 October 2025 (PAHO) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) held the workshop on strengthening the organization and composition of interprofessional health teams (EqIPS) within the framework of primary health care (PHC), from October 7 to 10, in Sucre, Bolivia.
The workshop aimed to build national and local capacities for the implementation of the EqIPS tool, developed by PAHO, to improve the organization and performance of interprofessional health teams, incorporating a territorial approach into its implementation for the first time. This approach made it possible to link the training and assessment process to the operational reality of the services and generate learning that was directly applicable to the local context.
During the workshop, 33 participants were trained and applied the EqIPS tool with the purpose of strengthening the health workforce through the implementation of interprofessional health teams in integrated health service networks. This strategy seeks to contribute to achieving resilient health systems, enhancing response capacity, care integration, and people- and community-centered care through collaborative work oriented toward meeting health goals. A group of participants was also trained as facilitators to ensure the continuity in the application of the EqIPS tool in their respective health service networks.
“Health personnel are one of the fundamental pillars for the transformation of health systems into integrated networks”, emphasized Yohana Díaz de Valle, PAHO Regional Advisor on Professional Education. “PAHO has supported Bolivia in the assessment, which has made it possible to identify weaknesses in human resources for health, but also opportunities to strengthen the health workforce”, she added.
“We face situations of limited resources, but we believe that working in integrated networks represents a key effort to optimize the use of what we have. In this workshop we learn, share experiences, and strengthen the health workforce to face the challenges of health systems,” said Rómulo Huanuco, planner of the Departmental Health Service of Chuquisaca.
With the implementation of the EqIPS tool, PAHO reaffirms its commitment and technical cooperation efforts to strengthen and institutionalize interprofessional health teams in the Region of the Americas, promoting integrated, collaborative, and people-centered care.
