“At PAHO we view Primary health care as a strategic approach that addresses the needs of people where they live. Our strategy for the expansion of primary health care in the 21st Century is critical to address barriers in access, ensuring continuity in the provision of health services,” Dr Barbosa” said at the opening of the virtual event “Strategies to ensure access to health services: overcoming barriers and guaranteeing continuity”.

“Even before the pandemic began, we faced unequal access and a variety of barriers which prevented us from achieving true equality,” Dr. Barbosa said. Prior to Covid-19, approximately 29.3% of the population in the Americas had unmet health needs, affecting some 295 million people.”

Both reports concur that the arrival of the pandemic significantly intensified these barriers, resulting in disruptions to both supply and demand of essential health services. This reversed the progress made over the past 20 years towards universal access to health and universal coverage in the Region of the Americas.

“Primary health care is key to overcoming these challenges. It is the lifeblood of resilient health systems and universal health and key to ensuring better preparedness for future crises and greater equity in health services. It is also fundamental to reversing pandemic trends in maternal and child mortality rates, increasing immunization coverage and accelerating the elimination of communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,” Dr Barbosa remarked.

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