Increased public health spending must continue, PAHO chief urges

DIRECTOR of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Dr. Carissa Etienne, is urging countries to prioritise public investments in their health systems to leave no one behind.
“Chronic underinvestment has made the Americas vulner- able to COVID-19,” Dr. Etienne told PAHO’s weekly virtual press briefing on Wednesday.
“Few countries invest as much public spending in their health systems as they should, leaving them prone to short- ages in health personnel and essential supplies, as well as crumbling infrastructure and underfunded essential public health functions.”
However, she said they have seen throughout this pandemic that countries can increase public spending on health. She identified that public in- vestments in health during the pandemic increased in many countries to improve health service capacities for COVID-19, to maintain essential health services, and to deploy COVID-19 vaccines. “Many governments obtained support for new loans or repro- grammed existing loans from international financial institu- tions,” Dr. Etienne indicated.
“Several countries are mov- ing forward with special allocations and programs to reinforce health services at the primary care level. But this cannot be a short-term trend. All countries should increase public expendi- tures to the recommended 6% of GDP or higher in their health systems, and they should ensure that 30% of this funding goes to the first level of care.”
The PAHO chief insisted that health systems should be properly managed and guided by ev- idence to ensure they are effec- tive and can keep everyone safe. She also made a call for greater dialogue between health, finance institutions, in- dustry, industrial partners as well as civil society, so decisions affecting our health systems reflect the expertise of health authorities, and that health policies are transparent, har- monised, and efficient.
“Insufficient public invest- ments in health threaten our ability to recover from this pandemic and could have ripple effects for years to come. As economies remain strained, countries face choices about how to spend limited funds – and these are tough choices.
“But we cannot forget that health is an investment, not an expense. As we learned with COVID-19, health is at the core of vibrant societies. It keeps people working, it keeps kids in schools, and companies pro- ductive and economies grow- ing.”
After two consecutive months of decline, COVID infections are increasing in some coun- tries in the Americas, Dr. Etienne reported.
Over the last week, 700,000 new cases and 13,000 COVID- related deaths were reported in this region. Several coun- tries, including parts of Colombia and Bolivia and the Southern Cone countries, are seeing upward trends after re- laxing public health measures.
In the Caribbean, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico have reported a drop in new infec- tions while cases are rising in the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. High numbers of cases are also being seen in the Cayman Islands and Dominica.
“The good news is that vacci- nations continue to pick up in our region. Some 48% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully im- munised against COVID. But coverage is still much lower in some countries and territories,” she said, giving the assurance that PAHO is committed to helping countries secure the vaccines that they need to protect their people.