Washington, D.C., 29 September 2017 (OPS/WHO)-The Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Carissa F. Etienne, and the Minister of Health of Argentina, Jorge Lemus, have signed a new country cooperation strategy which will remain in effect until 2021.
The Cooperation Strategy with Argentina 2017-2021, signed in Washington, D.C. during the 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference of PAHO, sets cooperation priorities for the country in line with PAHO's regional and global mandates. It also describes the South American nation's geopolitical, macroeconomic, and sociodemographic context.
The document is the result of consultations with the Ministry of Health and other strategic partners of PAHO/WHO in Argentina. This process included an analysis of the current health situation in the country, a priority-setting methodology, and consideration of the technical cooperation that PAHO/WHO can provide in the Argentine context. The strategy aims to move toward a health system with universal coverage and access to quality services and to improve the management of health risks posed by the environment, climate change, and human activities, as well as infectious, chemical, toxicological, nuclear and radiological threats.
The strategy also sets out to reduce inequities, with priority given to geographical areas and populations in conditions of vulnerability, following a comprehensive life-course approach; to effectively and efficiently prepare for epidemiological and demographic changes, particularly noncommunicable chronic diseases; and to strengthen and facilitate Argentina's role in cooperation for health development.
In signing the new agreement, Etienne said it reflects "the cooperation and work we will undertake with Argentina over the next four years in areas that are priorities for Argentina as well as for the region and PAHO."
Lemus confirmed his country's commitment to carry out the strategy and achieve its expected results, adding that Argentina has "a lot to offer to rest of the countries of the Region" in areas such as regulation, transplants, and public health strategies.
WHO's new Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who attended the signing, congratulated Lemus for the new cooperation strategy.
The strategy is outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and coordinated with contributions from other agencies of the United Nations system, as expressed in the United Nations Strategic Cooperation Framework for Development in Argentina (MECNUD, Spanish acronym).