Speakers:

• Juan Carlos Zevallos, Public Health Minister, Ecuador (Download his presentation.)
• Ivonne A. Baki, Ambassador of Ecuador to the U.S. (introduction)
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, AS/COA (welcome)

Learn more about the AS/COA Healthcare Series.

In February, Ecuador became the second country in Latin America to confirm a COVID-19 case. In a presentation as part of an AS/COA Healthcare Series event, Ecuadoran Public Health Minister Dr. Juan Carlos Zevallos presented both data on how the disease progressed in the country, as well as the strategy behind the Moreno government’s response. “This is a health, economic, and social pandemic. It should not be solved inside the hospitals, but controlled at the community level,” he said. The minister responded to questions from members about the administration’s plans in light of a possible second wave of cases, the use of positive test results as an indicator, and the importance of collaboration between the ministry, academia, and the private sector.

Ecuador's Health Minister @DrJuanCZevallos shares statistics showing the additional deaths that occurred during the first months of the pandemic, which peaked at just under 20,000 deaths in April, compared to the same months in previous years.#HealthcareASCOA @Salud_Ec pic.twitter.com/irBIVcdibu

— Americas Society/Council of the Americas (@ASCOA) September 24, 2020

Speakers:

• Julie Gerberding, Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer, Strategic Communications, Global Public Policy, and Population Health, Merck
• Jan Van Acker, President, Emerging Markets Human Health, Merck (introduction)
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (welcome)

The world has a choice to make as we face the COVID-19 pandemic: do we just work to get through this and then collapse back to “business as usual”? Or can we do more than survive and strive to be better prepared societies? Infectious disease expert and Merck executive Dr. Julie Gerberding made a compelling case for the latter in her remarks at a virtual event, part of the AS/COA Healthcare series. “Health security is national security,” said the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002–2009). “If we don’t prioritize our investments, we have no national security," she said. "It is just as important as military spending and our national defense when it comes to improving and protecting the lives of citizens on a day-to-day basis.” Gerberding also discussed the need for public and private investment and attention to continue and improve that preparedness both before and after an immediate threat. “We have to sustain the effort, even when the emergency effort subsides,” she said.

Speakers:

• Amado Alejandro Báez, Executive Director of the Presidential Committee for COVID-19 Response and Public Health Advisor to the president of the Dominican Republic
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

The Dominican Republic's executive director of the Presidential Committee for COVID-19 response and public health advisor to the president spoke with Eric Farnsworth about the Caribbean response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Báez discussed how, from the beginning of the country's response to the public health crisis, the special task force he leads focused on building public-private partnerships to strengthen ties between healthcare entities, businesses, food distributors, philanthropies, technology, and even funeral services. He also spoke of the efforts towards chronic disease management and freeing up the healthcare system via measures such as preventative medicine distribution.

Another key point Báez made was the importance of working at the local level in these public-private partnerships, reinforcing the effectiveness of of a "bottom-up approach." The public health expert emphasized looking "beyond the now, bearing in mind we will have a second wave." He also covered the challenge between finding public health solutions amid economic solutions, saying "there is a trade-off, as an absolute health orientation will affect the economy, and not favorably...Ultimately, we need to intelligently understand what segments can be opened, whether based on productivity, expansion of essential services, safety, etcetera."

Speakers:

• Kevin McAleenan, former Acting Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security 
• Martin Olmedo, Head of Supply Chain, Latin America, Roche
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas (moderator)

In health crises, medical supply chains might be able to provide new business opportunities, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, production has slowed while demand has put countries' health systems and governments on edge.

AS/COA's Healthcare series hosted experts at the public and private sectors to discuss how to improve supply chain management and join public and private forces in responding to the pandemic. Kevin McAleenan said he sees opportunities for the Western Hemisphere to reduce dependency on China by increasing options for manufacturing medical supplies in the region. Roche's Martin Olmedo said it is important at this time to flexibilize regulations and be bold to keep up with demand. he said. McAleenan added that personal protection equipment production need to increase and countries should adopt a principle of dynamic management of supply chains to prioritize the needs where the crisis is more severe.

Speakers:

• Laura Bonilla, Correspondent, Agence France-Presse - AFP
• Nacha Cattan, Mexico Bureau Chief, Bloomberg 
• Tim Padgett, Americas Editor, Miami NPR affiliate WLRN 
• Tom Phillips, Latin America Correspondent, The Guardian 
• Cecilia Tornaghi, Managing Editor, Americas Quarterly 

From Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro calling the virus a "gripezinha" to Nicolás Maduro recommending lemongrass and ginger as a remedy, journalists can help counter disinformation when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic hitting Latin America right now. A team of correspondents based across the Americas discussed the role of the media during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the growing appetite for information and the threats of populism when it comes to saving lives.

Nacha Cattan noted Mexico's local media is doing an important job when it comes to checking information given by the government with expert sources and telling "what the president is and isn't doing." NPR's Tim Padgett talked about how journalists need to talk to doctors for answers, saying: "Jair Bolsonaro has been putting out so much misinformation he makes Donald Trump look like a PHD in epidemiology." The Guardian's Tom Phillips, dialing in from Brazil, talked about how technology is helping correspondents keep in touch with local stringers and sources while the region is under quarantine. And AFP's Laura Bonilla talked about efforts to cover different angles of the pandemic in the region, given that journalists have a responsibility and a "huge opportunity," she said. "Good information can prevent you and your family from getting sick."

• Where Is the Coronavirus in Latin America?
• Learn more about AS/COA's programs and activities related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speakers:

• Tatiana Rosito, Senior Fellow, the Brazilian Center for International Relations
• Margaret Myers, Director of the Asia and Latin America Program, Inter-American Dialogue
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas 
• Cecilia Tornaghi, Managing Editor, Americas Quarterly (moderator)

Can China be a silver bullet for the COVID-19 economic crisis about to hit Latin America? As an AS/COA virtual conversation on April 8 started with this question, experts listed the many ways China's support to the region might differ from during the 2008 financial crisis. One is that it is still early to know which policies China will adopt for its own economic recovery, said Margaret Myers. She explained that what multinational organizations such as the IDB and the IMF offer and how bad the situation gets in Latin America might also be factors. "I don't think it's really China's intent to be the rescuer of Latin America," said Eric Farnsworth. Tatiana Rosito underscored the need for the region to be proactive and have a plan that includes a diversity of partners in its recovery, while avoiding the trap of having to choose between China and the United States. She pointed to FDI opportunities in the region while Myers cited China's significant shortages in grain supply, which could have positive implications for LatinAmerican producers.

Speakers:

• Manuela Bolívar, Deputy from the State of Miranda, National Assembly of Venezuela 
• Julio Castro, COVID-19 Technical Expert Commission, Interim Government of Venezuela (download his presentation)
• Carrie Filipetti, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cuba and Venezuela, Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• David Smolansky, Coordinator, Working Group on the Crisis of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees, Organization of American States 
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas (moderator)

“What does it mean to fight a pandemic while under a narco-state? That’s what Venezuela is facing.” This was how OAS’ David Smolansky defined the current situation in Venezuela on an AS/COA virtual Webex panel with other experts to discuss the conditions in the country to fight the novel coronavirus. Legislator Manuela Bolívar said that 80 percent of the population of Venezuela does not have access to clean water, while U.S. diplomat Carrie Filipetti noted that there have been “carve-outs” in place in U.S. sanctions against the country that allow for humanitarian and aid efforts. When asked if the U.S. government would be willing to work with Nicolás Maduro to mitigate COVID-19, she said the State Department would have to first determine humanitarian aid is being distributed fairly. Julio Castro gave a statistical panoramoa, pointing out that Venezuela’s health crisis started a decade ago.

Speakers:

• Nelson Arboleda, Director of the Office of the Americas, Office of the Secretary at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• ​Jarbas Barbosa, Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization
• Ines Bustillo, Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Washington Office
• Amparo Elena Gordillo-Tobar, Senior Health Economist, The World Bank Group and Coordinator, World Bank’s COVID-19 response for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Council of the Americas (moderator)

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts gathered (sans audience) at the Council of the Americas offices in Washington, DC to discuss the impact of the coronavirus in Latin America and the Caribbean. PAHO/WHO’s Jarbas Barbosa noted that, although the virus has spread to 19 countries in just two weeks, the region hasn't seen widespread community transmissions yet as all cases are from travelers from abroad. Nelson Arboleda of HHS said the United States is offering bilateral technical assistance to regional health ministries and is looking at the possibility of utilizing tools like WhatsApp to share public health information and evaluating promising initiatives with the private sector to promptly share messages in Spanish and Portuguese. The World Bank's Amparo Elena Gordillo-Tobar said that about one third of the economic losses from the coronavirus will come from loss of life and workplace closures, while the remaining losses will come from economic uncertainty. 

It’s too early to assess and understand the complete impact of pandemic on the world economy because we don’t know the duration of the pandemic, said Ines Bustillo of ECLAC, adding that COVID-19 is different because it’s both a supply and a demand shock. Bustillo explained that countries that have already been applying fiscal restrictions now face a dilemma with their macroeconomic policy to deal with their response to the virus, which is causing currency devaluations throughout the region. 

Asked by moderator Eric Farnsworth for final recommendations for regional governments, panelists said to create partnerships, protect health workers, look for long-term sustainable solutions, “flatten the curve,” and look out for the most vulnerable.

Increasingly, telemedicine and other innovative medical solutions have been proven to reduce cost of health care and broaden reach, generating attention and becoming the subject of many public-private partnerships in the region. Important innovations in the logistics sector are also enhancing reach of impactful drugs and other medical supplies across Latin America. This program convened a diverse audience comprised of private sector representatives from the pharmaceutical, logistics, and technology sectors in addition to representatives from NGOs, media, government, and academia.

Speakers:

• David Fox, Vice President, Head of Business Development (Former Head of Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Chemicals), DHL Global Forwarding Americas
• James Hogan, President, Medtronic Latin America
• Gustavo Menendez-Bernales, Managing Director, Internet Business Solutions, Cisco Systems
• Scott C. Simmons, Director of TeleHealth, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (moderator)

Closing address:

Congressman Rogério Carvalho, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (PT/Sergipe) – via videoconference