New Transatlantic Partnership to Address Post-Covid Global Health Priorities
A new partnership encompassing the Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, and United States Department for Health and Human Services has been established to drive a more collaborative approach to strengthening health systems and services across regions.
The organizations are seeking to improve transatlantic collaboration to strengthen global health systems and attain health equity in a post-pandemic context.
A statement from the World Health Organization, Europe says that the COVID-19 pandemic showed that a health emergency affecting one corner of the world can quickly spread to other regions, crippling even the strongest of health systems – exposing vulnerabilities, including social inequality and health inequity, and threatening global health security.
Working together, the new partnership will focus on working across more than 85 countries in the Americas and the WHO European Region.
The partnership will cement collaboration across a range of areas, including;
- strengthening global health architecture to make it fit-for-purpose
- strengthening emergency preparedness, including pandemic preparedness
- enhancing vaccine manufacturing through public-private partnerships
- tackling misinformation and disinformation related to health and health care
- supporting the health workforce through integration and training
- supporting the health of indigenous populations
- embedding the ‘One Health’ principle into policy-making across countries and regions
- enhancing detection of and response to antimicrobial resistance
- strengthening surveillance for pathogens of concern
- coordinating refugee and migrant health, including strengthening border health systems
Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization said, ‘Previous transatlantic partnerships in health focused primarily on supporting the developing world in areas such as vaccines and universal health coverage, but the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that, without collaboration grounded in equity, the impact on health systems everywhere is tremendous.’
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe added, ‘We face numerous and shared health challenges across the Americas and the European Region, from global warming to ageing populations, from noncommunicable diseases to new and reemerging pathogens, from antibiotic resistance to universal health coverage.’
He continued, ‘We simply won’t be able to address these challenges alone, and that’s why this transatlantic partnership is so important. We also share the Arctic region, home to indigenous communities with unique health needs who stand to benefit from this partnership. With this new arrangement, we hope to supercharge our collaboration across the health spectrum, for the benefit of everyone.’
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