The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas has been forged by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank, and it comes at a time when countries are still recovering from the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw many health indicators go into reverse and highlighted structural weaknesses of the health and social protection sectors to respond effectively to a public health crisis.

“Primary healthcare is our path to recover lost progress and an essential investment to address our greatest health and development challenges,” said PAHO director Dr Jarbas Barbosa during the Regional Forum: Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas, which runs until 6 December in Uruguay. “The creation of this new alliance is more necessary than ever to accelerate progress in the countries through collective and concerted action.”

Roughly one-third of the population of the Americas has unmet healthcare needs. This percentage ranges from 55 per cent in lower middle-income countries to 12 per cent in high-income countries, while there are also serious inequalities in the way healthcare is delivered, distributed and made available to the population.

Primary healthcare can help close this gap by ensuring that people receive quality care for their health needs throughout their lives – not just for a specific set of diseases – and as close as possible to their homes.

“To achieve effective and equitable primary healthcare, it’s essential to adopt an intersectoral approach,” said Ana María Ibáñez, vice-president of sectors and knowledge at the IDB. “This not only involves the health field, but also other sectors, co-ordinating efforts among different stakeholders. The creation of this alliance represents a crucial step in this direction, providing a collaborative platform that supports our countries in this task.”

Strengthening primary healthcare also involves making necessary investments in the healthcare workforce, infrastructure, and education. There is currently a deficit of 6 million health workers in the Americas, a gap that must be closed so that the health sector can provide the care people need and be more resilient in the face of future crises.

“We celebrate the launch of the Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas, with the purpose of promoting healthy environments, preventing disease and saving lives,” said Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Bank. “It’s urgent that we strengthen primary care and expand access to quality, equitable, efficient and resilient health systems. Political commitment and the implementation of state policies are essential to ensure impact and to benefit people, our primary common goal.”

Renewing and expanding primary healthcare is viewed as the cornerstone of a sustainable health system and fundamental to ensuring universal access to health and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to health and health security.

The new partnership between PAHO, the IDB and the World Bank will collectively support the development of national primary healthcare investment plans, provide guidance for countries to strengthen the resilience and capacity of their health systems, and co-operate to design and implement tailored evidence-based interventions. The three organisations will also seek to foster innovation in access to health, including through digital transformation, such as telehealth to reach underserved areas, and in making available new medicines and vaccines.