PAHO Director Urges ‘Bold Actions’ To Respond To Current & Future Health Emergencies

Geneva, 24 May 2023 (PAHO/WHO) – The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, has urged Ministers of Health and high-level delegates at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, to utilize all available knowledge and resources to ensure that people’s health is placed at the very center of the global response to future pandemics and emergencies. “We, the survivors, have the great responsibility and urgent imperative to implement bold actions” that take stock of the experience of countries in responding to COVID-19, Dr. Barbosa said. Speaking today at a session on strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness during the World Health Assembly, Dr. Barbosa highlighted that, while preventing a pandemic may be extremely difficult, “we must break the historic pattern of panic and neglect regarding pandemic threats.” This will require a proper analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic response involving all sectors, the international community, and beneficiaries, to review “the challenges we faced, the failures and the strengths we showed, and identify the actions that we need to implement immediately and in the short- and long term.” The PAHO Director highlighted that many countries, including those in the Americas, faced challenges in responding to...