Investing in Primary Health Care, Human Capital, and Economic Resilience in the Americas

As part of the Healthcare Series, Council of the Americas (COA) convened a high-level dinner with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), health authorities from across the Americas, multilateral institutions, U.S. government agencies, and private-sector leaders to discuss the role of primary health care in strengthening health security, human capital, and economic resilience across the region.

The conversation featured Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO director, and Dr. Mary Lou Valdez, PAHO deputy director, alongside members of PAHO’s leadership team. Ministers of Health Marcela Flores of Bolivia, Frank Anthony of Guyana, and Cristina Lustemberg of Uruguay also joined the discussion, together with senior representatives from regional ministries of health, including Secretary of Health Management of Argentina Saul Flores, Institutional Strategy Coordinator at Mexico's Ministry of Health Margarita Pérez Villaseñor, and Director General of Public Health at Panama's Ministry of Health Dr. Ylekis Gill.

The dialogue brought together perspectives from across the public, private, and multilateral sectors, including representatives from the World Bank and U.S. government institutions such as the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

The dialogue also underscored the critical role of the private sector and industry associations, such as FIFARMA, in advancing health priorities across the Americas. As COA Vice President Kevin Sullivan noted in his opening remarks, “Health is not only an outcome of development, it is a precondition for it. A healthy population is a productive workforce and can help build a stronger economy and a more resilient society.” The discussion explored how governments, multilaterals, private sector and industry can work together to strengthen health systems, anticipate emerging challenges, and advance sustainable solutions. Sullivan further emphasized, “The goal is not to replace public investment, but to complement it with expertise, innovation, and implementation capacity from the private sector in order to turn plans into results.”