Caribbean health ministers have endorsed a

series of actions aimed at ensuring that all people throughout the Americas

have equitable access to timely, efficient, safe, and quality health services.

The ministers are participating in the

weeklong 57th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

where the Strategy and Plan of Action to Improve Quality of Care in Health

Service Delivery 2020-2025, was adopted.

It sets out a people- and community-centred

approach that focuses on overcoming persisting barriers to equitable access to

quality care.

PAHO said health systems in the region of

the Americas are characterized by high levels of segmentation and fragmentation

that hinders access to quality health care services, compromises health

outcomes, and results in the inefficient use of available resources.

“While countries of the Region have made

progress to improve quality of care in health service delivery, mortality

attributable to quality issues remains high,” said PAHO’s Dominica-born

Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne.

“This strategy represents a paradigm shift

in how countries should approach health care and a move towards care that puts

the experience of people and their communities first,” she said.

In 2007, PAHO member states adopted the Regional Policy and Strategy for Ensuring Quality of Health Care.

Since then, actions have been implemented to improve quality, including through the development of policies and quality standards, the establishment of national directorates responsible for quality, and standards for health facility licensing.

PAHO said despite these initiatives, however, population surveys in some countries show that 30% of people still lack access to preventive care and treatment, and of those who do receive such services, just 39 percent consider the quality of care to be good.