Panama City, 20 October 2025 (PAHO) – With the aim of strengthening notification and response capacities for outbreaks and health emergencies in South and Central America, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Resolve to Save Lives convened delegates from eight countries for a three-day technical workshop held from 14 to 16 October in Panama City. The meeting focused on deepening the use of Early Action Review (EAR) data, applying the 7-1-7 Alliance methodology. Representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Nicaragua, and Uruguay participated in the workshop.
This workshop is part of the framework cooperation agreement signed in May 2025 between PAHO and Resolve to Save Lives to implement and institutionalize EARs in support of the 7-1-7 objective. These precision measures are critical for enabling countries to work quickly, decisively, and collaboratively to prevent epidemics and save lives.
The 7-1-7 Alliance is a global initiative designed to improve early detection and rapid response to infectious disease outbreaks and other public-health threats. Its name reflects three concrete time-bound targets:
- 7 days to detect an unusual public-health event or outbreak
- 1 day to notify the appropriate authorities
- 7 days to initiate and complete early response actions
PAHO is a member of the Alliance, which is led by countries and supported by a broad network of partners, including governments, national public-health institutes, emergency operations centers, and global health organizations such as Resolve to Save Lives.
The Early Action Reviews (EARs) evaluate the speed with which a country detects and contains multi-hazard events and infectious diseases. EARs set clear benchmarks for early detection, notification, and response. Their simplicity, focus, and clarity have led to their inclusion in the PAHO Strategic Plan 2026–2031 and in the Pandemic Fund results framework.
During the workshop in Panama, countries discussed data-use tools and analytical approaches, shared lessons learned from EAR implementation, and developed country-specific roadmaps for next steps.
“A key outcome of this workshop was the validation of a generic protocol to institutionalize EARs in our region. The eight participating countries now have the experience needed to support sustainable implementation,” said Andrea Villalobos, Acting PAHO Representative in Panama.
The workshop also included the participation of Andrew Gall, Senior Technical Advisor at Resolve to Save Lives, and his team, as well as José Renán De León Cáceres, Executive Secretary of COMISCA, and members of his technical team.
