Washington D.C., September 3, 2025 (PAHO/WHO) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank held today a high-level meeting of the Alliance for Primary Health Care (PHC) in the Americas, to review the progress achieved since its launch and set strategic priorities for the years ahead.
The meeting brought together Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director; Ana María Ibáñez Londoño, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge at the IDB; and Jaime Saavedra, Regional Director for Human Development in Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, along with other senior representatives of the three institutions.
Since its creation in December 2023, the Alliance has supported 11 countries in the Region to strengthen their health systems through joint action, harmonized policy guidance, and coordinated investment strategies. As part of this work, Mesas Consultivas have been launched in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Chile, and Paraguay, serving as mechanisms for shared governance and sustained dialogue among health authorities, regional partners, and civil society actors.
“Primary health care is the foundation of resilient, equitable, and people-centered health systems. Through the Alliance, we can bring together technical expertise, investments and political commitment to accelerate the transformation of health systems in the Region,” said Dr Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director.
Participants highlighted the Alliance’s progress in its three core areas —investment, innovation, and implementation— and discussed opportunities for further collaboration, including scaling up innovations in PHC, consolidating regional technical public goods, and enhancing coordination between health and finance sectors to ensure sustainable transformation.
“We celebrate the progress made over nearly two years of the Alliance. The Alliance helps us coordinate our support to countries’ efforts to provide primary health care with the quality and efficiency our citizens need and deserve. There are significant achievements at both the regional and country levels, as well as immense challenges ahead”, said Jaime Saavedra, Regional Director for Human Development in Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank.
“Primary health care, as we all know, addresses the root causes of health problems early on, and provides care close to where people live. It contributes to achieving greater coverage, quality and efficiency. As such, PHC is at the center of the loans and technical cooperations of the Bank in maternal and childcare, chronic disease management, epidemic preparedness, and general health system strengthening,” said Ana María Ibáñez Londoño, Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge at the IDB.
Looking ahead, participants emphasized the preparation of the Second Regional Meeting of the Alliance, to be held in late 2025, and the development of a Strategic Roadmap 2026–2027, aimed at consolidating joint action and positioning the Alliance as a driving force for PHC-based health system transformation in the Americas.
The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas
The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas was launched in December 2023 by PAHO, the IDB and the World Bank, with the aim of strengthening investment, innovation and the implementation of policies and initiatives to transform health systems in the Region, with a strong emphasis on primary health care.
The Alliance supports the development of national PHC investment plans, provides guidance to countries to strengthen the resilience and capacity of their health systems, and cooperates to design and implement evidence-based interventions adapted to specific contexts and challenges.
