GENEVA, Switzerland (CMC) — The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) says ministers of health and high-level health authorities from the Americas, including the Caribbean, have come together this week for the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss pressing health issues, including amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the creation of a global instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Several leaders across the region used the opportunity to highlight varying areas of concern during their speeches.

Congratulating the World Health Organization (WHO) for the successful launch of its investment round – “a bold step in the right direction,” Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Christopher Tufton urged greater commitment from the global community “as the timeline for achieving the SDGs (sustainable development goals) inches closer”.

Regarding Jamaica’s focus on primary health care, the minister highlighted the country’s development of a hospital model that decentralises specialist services, “ensuring easier access and decreased waiting times for high demand services, including the management of illnesses that contribute to our mortality and morbidity burden”.

For Tufton, one of the most urgent priorities for Jamaica, and other small island developing states, is to address the issue of human resources for health which “are threatening to erode the gains made”.

During his intervention, he called on WHO to “strengthen its efforts to help small countries develop resilience through forging partnerships with training institutions, accreditation bodies, clinical training, and training of trainers to enable the number [of health personnel] trained in small countries to satisfy their needs”.

“Achieving health for all requires all hands on deck to solve this decades-old problem,” Tufton said.

Minister of Public Health of Cuba, José Ángel Portal Miranda, stressed the urgency of genuine collaboration and investment in public health at the global level during his speech at the World Health Assembly.

In an increasingly interconnected world, the minister stressed the importance of recognising that global health issues transcend the realm of health, influencing all sectors.

“Working on a global scale is inevitable if we are to achieve a true collaborative framework between international organisations and governments,” he said, emphasising the need for sustainable solutions and adequate financial mechanisms.

In this regard, Portal Miranda highlighted Cuba’s commitment in the negotiations associated with the legal instrument promoted by the WHO to support pandemic preparedness, prevention and response.

“Given the need to carry out actions that not only avoid the repetition of crises, but also put our countries in a better position to face them, Cuba has actively participated in these negotiations,” he said.

“The world needs true cooperation and investment in public health; more than words, we need concrete actions,” added Portal Miranda, stating that, only by working together, “will we be able to forge a future in which health is a right accessible to all”.

For Barbados, the critical principles of equity and solidarity lie at the core of the pandemic treaty, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Wellness of Barbados, Wayne Marshall, said.

“There is, therefore, a need to fully recognize the special circumstances of SIDS and least developed countries in relation to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” he said.

The permanent secretary underscored that WHO’s pursuit to address these concerns “must remain at the forefront of its efforts to ensure no member state is left behind,” and urged WHO to face global challenges head on “so the peoples of the world become ever more resilient and protected”.

Expressing Haiti’s “resolute commitment to the negotiations of the first global agreement in history that aims to protect communities, countries and the planet from the threat related to pandemics,” Permanent Representative of Haiti to the UN in Geneva, Justin Viard, outlined the importance of international collaboration.

“It is important for our generation to be able to implement the promise of the sustainable development goals, which will require healthcare systems that are resilient and stable, with equitable access to innovation and care, and that are able to overcome the risks related to pandemics and the climate crisis,” he said.

Inequality, as well as “armed conflict and avoidable epidemics have a significant impact on healthcare systems, as well as on the populations they serve,” the representative added. This “must be eliminated if we want to pass onto future generations a planet in which life will be possible”.