El Salvador joins the Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas

Washington DC, December 2, 2024 (PAHO) - The Ministry of Health of El Salvador (MINSAL) has joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) through the establishment of the Mesa Consultiva of Primary Health Care (PHC) in El Salvador. The aim of the Mesa Consultiva is to address inequities in access to health, universal coverage, and emerging challenges such as climate change, demographic and epidemiological transitions using the Primary Health Care approach.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the occasion held at the Ministry of Health in El Salvador, PAHO Director, Dr Jarbas Barbosa welcomed El Salvador to the Alliance. "PAHO is fully committed to supporting the Mesa Consultiva for Primary Health Care in El Salvador, and to continue providing technical cooperation to ensure health system transformation," he said.

The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Health of El Salvador, Francisco Alabí Montoya; the World Bank Country Manager for El Salvador and Costa Rica, Carine Clert; the IDB Representative in El Salvador, Olga Gómez, and the PAHO Acting Representative in El Salvador, Ángel Manuel Álvarez.

"This Alliance is a crucial step in the transformation of our health system. With the support of strategic allies such as PAHO, IDB and the World Bank, El Salvador is consolidating its position as a regional benchmark in the implementation of innovative policies to guarantee quality health services for our population," Minister Alabi said.

The Mesa Consultiva is a national-level innovative governance mechanism to facilitate coordination between the Alliance and the Ministry of Health of El Salvador. It will promote the alignment of technical and financial resources towards the country's strategic objectives, as well as ensure coherence between current and future projects.

"From the IDB we celebrate El Salvador's initiative to convene this Mesa Consultiva, which reinforces a model of how the Alliance can be effectively implemented in countries. This strategic space is key because it aligns the efforts of PAHO, the IDB, and the World Bank with the country's priorities and facilitates collaboration with other national and regional institutions," Olga Gomez Garcia, IDB representative in El Salvador said.

"The creation of the Mesa Consultiva for Primary Health Care in El Salvador maximizes collaboration among development partners and the effectiveness of interventions, contributing to improving the health of the population and strengthening human capital in El Salvador," Carine Clert, World Bank Country Manager for El Salvador and Costa Rica added.

The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas

The Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas was launched in December 2023 by PAHO, the IDB and the World Bank, with the aim of strengthening investment, innovation and the implementation of policies and initiatives to transform health systems in the Region, with a strong emphasis on primary health care.

Since its launch, the Alliance has been working with 9 countries in the region through a decentralized and participatory structure that fosters strategic and technical dialogue among the three organizations at the country level. El Salvador is the 10th country to join the Alliance. The Alliance supports the development of national PHC investment plans, provides guidance to countries to strengthen the resilience and capacity of their health systems, and cooperates to design and implement evidence-based interventions adapted to specific contexts and challenges.