World Bank / PAHO Lancet Commission on Primary Health Care and Resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean

Cristian A. Herrera is a Senior Health Specialist in the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank's Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice. He was a health policy analyst at the OECD and a senior health official in the Chilean Ministry of Health, being head of the Division of Health Planning and serving also as acting Viceminister of Public Health. Cristian holds a medical degree from the P. Universidad Católica de Chile, a Graduate Diploma in International Relations from the University of London, an MBA from the Universidad de Chile, and an MSc in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Manuela Villar Uribe is a Senior Health Specialist of the Health Nutrition and Population Global Practice of the World Bank. Manuela currently works with the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative of the World Bank, supporting countries in their efforts to measure and improve their Primary Health Care systems. Over the last 15 years, Manuela has worked across countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia supporting efforts to improve measurement, monitoring and evaluation of health systems. Manuela has a PhD in Health Systems from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Master in Public Health degree from Tulane University, in the United States and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and International Development Studies from McGill University, Canada.

Ernesto Bascolo is the unit chief of the Primary Health Care and Integrated Health Services at the Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington. Currently based in Washington DC, she works with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). He has more than 30 years of combined national and international experience in health services and health policies, including experience in health projects in international organizations, including resource mobilization and management.

Natalia Houghton is a specialist in health systems evaluation and policy. Currently based in Washington DC, she works with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). With over 15 years of experience in international health policies and public health, her focus is on evaluating and strengthening governance capacities to enhance access to health interventions, reduce inequities, and improve the performance of health systems based on Primary Health Care. In her current role, Natalia provides support to member states in evaluating and strengthening stewardship and governance through the renewed approach of the Essential Public Health Functions. She also contributes to the analysis and identification of policy options to address barriers to health access faced by vulnerable populations. Additionally, she offers technical cooperation to enhance institutional capacities and governance in public health, while working to improve the resilience of health systems through monitoring, evaluation, and policy analysi

Sara Bennett, PhD, is Professor and Associate Chair in the International Health Department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she also serves as the Director of the Health Systems Program. Throughout her career she has made important contributions to the development of the field of health policy and systems research, with particular expertise in the fields of health workforce issues, health financing, and health markets. Dr. Bennett's research also has interests in institutional capacity development, health systems governance, and the use of evidence in policy and decision-making. Her career includes both academic and policy roles, including former Chair of Health Systems Global, editor of Health Policy and Planning, and Executive Director of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at the World Health Organization. Dr. Bennett's dedication to bridging the gap between academia and practice, as well as building institutional capacity for health research internationally, is evident in her strong commitment to making a real-world impact. She graduated from Oxford (MA), Cambridge (MPhil) and London School of Economics (PhD).

Adriano Massuda is a professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and coordinator of the Center for Studies in Health Planning and Management (FGV-Saúde). He graduated in Medicine and holds a Master's and PhD in Health Policy and Planning from the State University of Campinas. Previously, he served as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Municipal Secretary of Health of Curitiba, and National Secretary of Science, Technology, and Strategic Inputs at the Ministry of Health. He was also a visiting scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an external consultant for the Pan American Health Organization.

Marcia Castro’s research focuses on the development and use of multidisciplinary approaches to identify the determinants of infectious disease transmission in different ecological settings to inform control policies. Castro has more than 20 years of collaboration with Brazilian researchers, Health Secretariats, and the Ministry of Health particularly related to infectious diseases. She made important contributions during recent public health emergencies (the Zika virus epidemic and the COVD-19 pandemic). Castro has projects on malaria, COVID-19, arboviruses, infant/child mortality and development, and climate change in the Brazilian Amazon. She serves on several advisory boards in Brazil and the US, is an elected member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a columnist for Folha de São Paulo. She earned a Ph.D. in Demography from Princeton University.

With more than 40 years of experience in accompaniment, studies, facilitation and application of policies, strategies and programs based on approaches to individual and collective human rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially in the fields of education, intercultural health, gender and intergenerational relations and indigenous self-government - multiethnic and development with identity - Buen Vivir.

She is a member of the Miskitu indigenous people of the Waspam community, located on the banks of the Wangki River in Nicaragua from where she participated in the negotiations for the establishment of the autonomy regime of the Indigenous Peoples and ethnic communities of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and along of the last 35 years has accompanied the process of its implementation.

He was National Epidemiologist in Jamaica and led the National HIV/STI Program from its outset in 1986 until 2008. He served as Chief Medical Officer from 1997–2002. He is chair of PAHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and was a member of WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization from 2009 – 2015. He is a member of the WHO Working Group on COVID-19 vaccines and a member of UNAIDS scientific expert panel. He has published widely on communicable diseases and public health including 180 peer reviewed papers and 3 books. He has received many awards for his work including the Order of Jamaica in 2008 and in 2019 a WHO award for Leadership in Global Health.

Dr. Flores is a social scientist and human rights advocate with over 25 years of professional experience. He holds a PhD and a Masters of Community Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK. Dr. Flores’ professional work has been carried-out in more than 30 countries from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. His areas of expertise are health systems and policy, right to health and indigenous populations, democratic governance, social accountability, legal empowerment and community participation. Currently, Dr. Flores is research professor at the Accountability Research Center, American University, Washington DC and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems; a Guatemalan civil society organization specialized in applied research, capacity building and advocacy around issues affecting indigenous and other marginalized populations.

Director at EQUIDE, an interdisciplinary research institute at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, focusing on applied research in health and poverty from an equity perspective. A flagship project was a monthly repeated cross-section study to monitor the Mexican population during the COVID-19 pandemic on indicators such as unemployment, food insecurity and mental health. Pablo holds a PhD in Social Welfare by Boston College and was trained as a Sociologist and Psychologist. He specializes in measurement, epidemiology, evaluation, and implementation science. He participates in projects with UNICEF, FAO, Innovations for Poverty Action, Northwestern University, and the Rede PESSAN. Co-coordinates the research network on water insecurity in Latin-America. He is a member of Mexico’s National Registry of Researchers, First level. Interested in health systems, social determinants of health, aging, mental health, and food and water insecurity.

Has worked extensively in Quality of Care and Patient Safety research, education and implementation projects in Latin America. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia funded by NIH, USAID, PATH, URC, IADB, WB, WHO and the B&M Gates Foundation among others.

In 2018 he was part of the Lancet commission on Quality in Developing Countries -HQSS- that contributed with a renovated vision of the field of Improvement and measurement led by the Harvard School of Public Health. That report led to the creation of the QuEST network to improve health systems quality in LMICs and he is Co-PI of one of the regional Center of this endevour. In 2023 he was appointed Co-PI of the Global Health Network in Latin-America, led by Oxford University and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Ligia Giovanella is a physician with Masters (1989) and PhD (1998) in Public Health from the National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Ensp/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) with postdoctoral studies at the Institute of Medical Sociology, JW Goethe University Frankfurt (2003) and at the Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany (2012). She was coordinator of the Southern Cone Health Systems and Services Research Network (2005/9) and consultant for the South American Institute of Government in Health (ISAGS) (2013/16). She has experience in research on health policies and systems in comparative perspective and in evaluation of primary health care policies. She is co-coordinator of the Abrasco PHC Research Network.

Dr. Guanais directs areas including health statistics, primary care, people-centered health systems, and the health-climate change interface for the OECD’s Health Division. He leads the development of the Patient-Reported Indicators Survey (PaRIS), a multi-national survey assessing health systems through primary care patient experiences and outcomes. He also manages the division's regional programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to the OECD, Guanais was a Principal Health Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank and served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to Brazil's Minister of Social Development, contributing to significant social policy expansion. His academic publication record focuses on primary care, people-centered health systems, and health systems strengthening. Guanais, a Brazil and Italy dual citizen, holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration with a health policy focus from New York University, and both a Master’s in Administration and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.

Stella M. Hartinger, MSc, PhD, is a Peruvian Associate Professor and Environmental Epidemiologist at the School of Public Health at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. She co-directs the Latin American Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Health and serves as the regional director of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change for Latin America.

Medical Doctor, Specialist in Internal Medicine. Specialist and Master in Information Systems Engineering and PhD in Computer Engineering. Certified Professional in Health Information Management System (HIMSS). Member of AMIA, AHIMA, HIMSS, AAIM. Founding member of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI).

Head of the Department of Health Informatics of the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires since 2010. Director of the master’s degree and the Health Informatics Residency of the Hospital Italiano University Institute. He is on the editorial board of scientific journals in medical informatics such as the Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, Applied Clinical Informatics Journal and Healthcare Informatics Research.

James Macinko is Professor of Health Policy and Management and Community Health Sciences. He is a health systems researcher specializing in global health and health policy analysis. His research has focused on assessing large-scale health system and social reforms in Brazil and other countries in the LAC region with an emphasis on health outcomes, quality, and equity. He is on the advisory board of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging and collaborates with international organizations, national governments, universities, and local organizations throughout the region.

Macinko has an MA in International Affairs from George Washington University and a PhD in Health and Social Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil.

Helia Molina is a pediatrician, professor and parliamentarian. She was former Minister of Health in the government of Michelle Bachelet in 2014 and dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Santiago de Chile. She was also executive secretary of the Program Chile Crece Contigo (Chile Grows with You). At the international level, she has worked as a consultant and advisor for various agencies of the United Nations System, such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Helia has published several books and scientific papers related to early childhood development, health systems and public health.

Diana brings 24 years of experience working on the design, analysis, and implementation of policies, strategies and interventions to improve health system performance in Latin America and the Caribbean. Diana is a Medical Doctor and Master in Health Administration from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and she also holds a Doctor of Science degree in International Health Policy and Economics from Harvard School of Public Health. Her work trajectory includes positions as health specialist at the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington DC, and in Colombia, Professor at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana School of Medicine’s Department of Clinical Epidemiology and associate researcher at Fedesarrollo, as well as government policy advisor to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. She is currently an independent consultant and is co-investigator of a collaboration between Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Imperial College London to study health financing fragmentation in four countries.

The Plentitude Foundation is an organization dedicated to the production of knowledge and dissemination of evidence to transform research into action for sustainable development). Magdalena Rathe is a researcher, international expert in health financing, with special interest in improving the performance of the health system through the support of policies that promote equity and financial protection. She has made special contributions to the methodological development, analysis of results and institutionalization of national health accounts in the Latin American and Caribbean region, having collaborated for many years with the World Health Organization (WHO). She has published several books, numerous papers and book chapters. She has held important positions in the Dominican government, including the Monetary Board of the Dominican Republic.

Former Minister of Health of Costa Rica and former Executive President of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social). She has been a researcher at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing at the University of Costa Rica. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Network of the Americas for Health Equity (RAES) and works as an international consultant and researcher in health systems.

Italian medical doctor graduated from the University of Turin (UniTO), with a Master's degree in infectious diseases. Experience with projects and programs in the health area in different countries. In the period 1986 – 1995 he acted as coordinator of health projects for multi- and bilateral organizations in Peru, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Returning to Italy in 1996, he was responsible for the health area of a national program of modernization of the state, for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy. From 2008 to 2020 he worked in the area of health systems and services at PAHO, at the Washington headquarters and in Brazil, where he coordinated the "More Doctors for Brazil" Program. He is currently a consultant at the Institute of Public Policy Studies (IEPS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and collaborates with FGV-Saúde de São Paulo.

Carina is currently General Secretary of Territorial Coordination, Governance and Social Participation of the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador. She is a member of the South Central Board of Directors (2019-2026). She was Executive Director of the South American Institute of Health Government of UNASUR (ISAGS) between 2016 and 2019. Between 2012 and 2015 she was Minister of Public Health of Ecuador.

Carina has a bachelor's degree in History and Political Science from Williams College and a master's degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Public Health at Tulane University.

Holder of the first McGill Chair in Family and Community Medicine Research, based at St. Mary’s Hospital Centre and McGill University, Dr. Haggerty’s domain of research is the factors related to accessibility and quality of primary care, particularly the impact of health system policies and reforms.

Her current research program focuses on the measure of patient experience with patient-centered and effective primary health care and how these measures relate to changes in organizational and professional practices. She is nominated principal investigator of a Canada-Australia research program that aims to improve access to primary health care for socially vulnerable health care. She was also founding scientific director of the Québec Primary Health Care Knowledge Network, Réseau-1 Québec.

Her goal is to present the public voice in a clear way to healthcare decision-makers on issues of equitable access and quality of healthcare.