After the Pandemic: What to Expect in Latin America and the Caribbean
After the Pandemic: What to Expect in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Panama health minister spoke about COVID-19, a post-pandemic era, and collaboration on healthcare policy.
Speakers
- Luis Francisco Sucre, Minister of Health, Panama
- Andrew H. Martin, President for the Latin America Cluster, Pfizer Inc
- Steve Liston, Senior Director, AS/COA
“Panama is willing to contribute what we have learned during the pandemic, but also to learn new methods and new advances that can be applied not only in Panama, but also in all the countries of the region,” said Minister of Health of Panama Luis Francisco Sucre in a Panama City event to launch the Healthcare Series report: After the Pandemic: Considerations for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment in Latin America and the Caribbean.
AS/COA Senior Director Steve Liston explained that the health report draws upon a series of roundtables that brought together experts from different sectors, and he said they all had to answer the question: "What lessons should we learn moving forward?" Broadly, the report focused on four areas of pandemic response, which are: messaging regarding COVID-19, healthcare financing, defining a post-pandemic era, and the importance of collaboration at the domestic and international levels. Minister Sucre reinforced the idea of teamwork. “Panama worked with all political parties, with all private companies, and with all social organizations; no one was excluded during the pandemic, which has been one of the elements that helped us get out of it quickly and to have good results,” he said.
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Andrew H. Martin, president of the Latin America Cluster for Pfizer Inc., added that the results of the report serve as a reminder of building resilient, dynamic healthcare systems that are capable of responding to another pandemic, while ensuring that they can maintain access to basic preventative measures including routine vaccination. “Research suggests that, unfortunately, we will likely face in our lifetime another pandemic, and that’s why the report, its conclusions, and the roadmap it lays out for us is so critical because we all have collectively the power to follow those lessons learned, to apply the resources necessary, to ensure that we are prepared in the events of another pandemic,” concluded Martin.
- Download the report in English and Spanish.
- Learn more about the AS/COA Healthcare Series.
- For media inquiries or to speak with an expert on this topic, contact: mediarelations@as-coa.org
