Enhancing Access to Health Care in Latin America through Technology and Innovation

June 13, 2013

Registration:

5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Discussion:

6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
...

University of Miami

Newman Alumni Center

Miami

Live broadcast

(Image: Intel Free Press)

Overview

Over the past few decades, Latin America has made significant strides to improve health care access. The region now leads the developing world in various health statistics including life expectancy at birth, health expenditure as a percentage of GDP, and tuberculosis detection rate. In fact, according to the World Bank, between 1990 and 2011, the under-five mortality rate was more than halved from 5.3 percent to 1.9 percent, representing remarkable progress towards meeting U.N. Millennium Development Goal targets. This progress can be partly attributed to the implementation of basic universal health care policies such as Seguro Popular in Mexico and the Sistema Único de Saúde in Brazil. However, key challenges remain to ensure equal quality of health services and delivery to rural and indigenous populations. 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. Americas Society/Council of the Americas hosted a June 13 forum focused on how technology is maximizing health care in Latin America, and how business and government can collaborate to distribute these innovative solutions more widely and efficiently. 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: <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"> <li>David Fox, Vice President, Head of Business Development (Former Head of Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Chemicals), DHL Global Forwarding Americas</li> <li>James Hogan, President, Medtronic Latin America</li> <li>Gustavo Menendez-Bernales, Managing Director, Internet Business Solutions, Cisco Systems</li> <li>Scott C. Simmons, Director of TeleHealth, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (moderator)</li> </ul> Closing address: <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"> <li>Congressman Rogério Carvalho, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies (PT/Sergipe) – via videoconference</li> </ul> Complimentary registration. Reception to follow the discussion. For more information: Contact Madeleine Johnson at <a href="mailto:mjohnson@as-coa.org">mjohnson@as-coa.org</a> or 305-779-4816.

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Overview