Lancet Commission Americas Report – World Bank and PAHO

Primary Health Care: A Key Investment for the Region

The Lancet Americas Commission, led by the World Bank and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), has released its first report on the urgent need to invest in resilient primary health care (PHC) systems.

The report emphasizes that strengthening PHC is essential to save lives, protect the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, and reduce vulnerabilities to future health and social crises.

The report introduces a new approach that directly links PHC with resilience, proposing a public policy framework that strengthens health systems and offers a model that can be replicated globally. It also warns that without sustained political commitment, the region will continue to face increasingly severe threats, with a high human and economic cost.

To achieve truly resilient systems based on universal PHC, the Commission proposes five key recommendations: (1) strengthen comprehensive and equitable care models; (2) integrate essential public health functions into PHC; (3) foster community empowerment and trust; (4) promote multisectoral actions and policies with innovative governance mechanisms; and (5) ensure sustainable and adaptable public financing.

Analyzing what's next for primary health care in Latin America and the Caribbean to build resilient health systems for future public health emergencies

Read the comment published in The Lancet Regional Health Americas announcing the Commission.

Launch of the Comission

The World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization and Lancet Americas (the regional office of The Lancet) presented the group of 18 experts that will form the Lancet Americas Commission in charge of producing new knowledge and practical recommendations to strengthen Primary Health Care and Resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Primary Health Care (PHC) is an efficient and equitable way of managing public health and individual care in health systems. It guarantees timely, comprehensive, and close services that materialize the universal right to health, well-being, and quality of life of the population, regardless of the socioeconomic situation of individuals.

"This is a transcendental initiative that seeks to advance the critical knowledge necessary to inform fundamental decisions in the future development of Primary Health Care and the resilience of the health system in our region," said the director of the Pan American Health Organization, Jarbas Barbosa, during the launch of the Commission.

Also, the former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, highlighted the initiative "which addresses issues of such political, economic and social relevance. They have brought together great experts with different perspectives and different experiences". She added that "when people have access to quality health services, they are more likely to have a productive life, contribute to the economy and participate actively in society".