Washington DC., May 10, 2025 — Within the framework of Public Health 2025, Canada’s foremost public health conference, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) convened a technical session to address the challenges of equitable access to primary health care across the Region of the Americas.
The session brought together representatives from governments, academic institutions, and international organizations to reflect on strategies to advance toward universal health, with emphasis on populations in vulnerable situations and the diversity of national and territorial contexts.
Opening remarks were delivered by Dionne Patz, Senior Advisor on Public Health Policy at PAHO, who highlighted the importance of strengthening comprehensive and intersectoral approaches to improve access, and PAHO’s strategic role in supporting these processes.
Natalia Houghton, Technical Officer on Primary Health Care Policy, Planning and Evaluation at PAHO, shared an updated analysis on the barriers people face in accessing timely, quality, and equity-oriented health services. This information is based on recent findings published by PAHO, which examine gaps in access to and financial protection in health across the Region.
Key data include:
- 35.2% of the population across 17 countries reported having unmet healthcare needs.
- Over 40% of those who did not access services attributed it to non-financial barriers (availability, geographic location, cultural appropriateness).
- 14.2% cited economic reasons as the main obstacle.
- Up to 7.8% of the population experienced catastrophic health expenditures.
The session also featured key contributions from Katherine Rouleau, Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Family Medicine and Primary Care. She presented a perspective centered on primary health care, facilitating a discussion on concrete actions to overcome access barriers.
PAHO reaffirmed its commitment to continue supporting countries in the development of strategies to overcome access barriers and to strengthen health systems that are more integrated, resilient, and people- and community-centered.
Public Health 2025 is the Canadian Public Health Association’s annual conference where public health professionals, researchers, policy-makers, academics, students and trainees come together to strengthen efforts to improve health and well-being, to share the latest research and information, to promote best practices and to advocate for public health issues and policies grounded in research.
- Available resources:
Progress in Universal Health in the Americas: Addressing unmet healthcare needs, gaps in coverage, and financial protection through primary health care. Washington, D.C.: PAHO; 2024. - Analyzing and overcoming access barriers to strengthen primary health care. Washington, D.C.: PAHO; 2023.
