São Paulo, November 25, 2025 (PAHO) – Brazil’s Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have signed an agreement for the acquisition of updated vaccines through PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds, a regional pooled procurement mechanism that enables purchases of health supplies at competitive prices.
The signing took place yesterday in São Paulo, during PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa’s participation in the Plenary Meeting of the Executive Group of the Health Economic-Industrial Complex (GECEIS).
PAHO is working to identify manufacturers to consolidate a regional hub for vaccine production, which will help increase volume and benefit countries with smaller populations. The expectation is that this arrangement will lead to the creation of networks among countries to update the vaccines used in the Region, ensuring that installed capacity in Brazil benefits the health of the entire region.
“Brazil is taking on a stronger role in PAHO’s Revolving Funds—not only for the purchase of medicines and vaccines, which it will now carry out in a more systematized way, but I believe Brazil also has an enormous contribution to make with its scientific, technological, innovation, and production capacity,” said the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa.
“Brazil can be one of the major suppliers of vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment for the entire Region of the Americas and beyond,” the Director added, noting that Africa CDC and the regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Middle East have expressed interest in joining these mechanisms.
According to the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, “PAHO is a fundamental institution for our commitments and dreams of being a regional leader that collaborates with other countries. Brazil has enormous potential to have an increasingly strong presence in the region, contributing to the production of and access to vaccines.”
“We also want international investment in Brazil, including technology transfer, to allow the country to participate in this market collaboratively throughout the region, including through multi-year commitments that guarantee demand for suppliers and stable supply for our populations,” emphasized Alexandre Padilha.
At the same time, Brazil is strengthening national institutions such as Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz and the Butantan Institute, which will begin producing and supplying vaccines to countries in the Americas through PAHO’s Revolving Funds, boosting economies of scale and regional self-sufficiency.
PAHO will also continue working with institutions across the region to supply vaccines through the Regional Revolving Funds, including new technologies such as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine and the 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20).
Regional Revolving Funds
PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds is a regional pooled-procurement mechanism that helps the countries of the Americas access quality vaccines, essential medicines, and public health supplies in a timely and transparent manner.
By pooling purchases and planning demand together through these Regional Funds, countries have been able to secure affordable prices and timely deliveries, saving roughly 50% on public health supplies and gaining access to a line of credit. In just the past two years, around 180 million people in the region have benefited from this initiative.
