Canada and PAHO collaborated to promote vaccination against COVID-19 for people at risk across the Caribbean and Latin America – PAHO / WHO

A component of this new cooperation seeks to bolster countries’ efforts to protect people at risk from COVID-19, with a shared vision of American solidarity.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 27, 2021 (PAHO) – On this day, a new collaboration was announced between the Government of Canada and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) aimed at improving the health of the population and protecting them in high-risk situations. Vulnerability due to COVID-19, especially women.

To achieve this goal, Canada will contribute 50 million Canadian dollars (about 40 million US dollars) to support the critical work of the PAHO in the Caribbean and Latin America on preparing and accessing COVID-19 vaccines. For women at high risk, migrant and refugee women, people in transit, indigenous peoples and other vulnerable populations who are in areas where health conditions are often precarious.

“This collaboration arose out of a shared vision that vaccinations against COVID-19 should not be a privilege but a right for all people, regardless of their ethnic origin, economic status, gender, immigration status, or if they reside in a city or rural area,” said the director of the organization. Pan American Health Carissa F. Etienne. “Canada’s contribution will help Caribbean and Latin American countries make significant progress in accessing COVID-19 vaccines to all who need them, starting with the most vulnerable – predominantly women.”

Activities include technical cooperation to promote all cases and stages of deployment of vaccines against COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes training public health workers and other health professionals in the equitable distribution of vaccines, as well as comprehensive technical cooperation on regulatory and supervisory processes, and strengthening immunization policies and strategies. Vaccine supply, vaccine procurement support, cold chain and logistical challenges, promoting communication strategies, and advocating for access and equitable distribution of vaccines.

“People like immigrants and indigenous communities move across regions and borders, and very often they don’t get the health coverage they need,” said Dr. Siro Ugarte, Director of Health Emergencies at the Pan American Health Organization. “By providing vaccines to transient populations, countries in the Caribbean and Latin America can avoid the additional burdens on their national health systems due to infection, while at the same time mitigating further virus transmission. This alliance is essential to providing much-needed technical cooperation for the A comprehensive response against COVID-19, to save lives and leave no one behind. “

As a major partner of the PAHO, Canada is committed to working with its counterparts and international organizations to control the spread of COVID-19 around the world. This cooperation is vital to help those affected by the pandemic and protect their health and safety. Canada has actively collaborated with the PAHO since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in its response and facilitation of access to vaccines in the Americas, including through the COVAX mechanism.

Contacts:

Daniel Epstein
Nancy Naseer
Sebastian Ullel
Ashley Baldwin
Nadia Bimbert Rapaport
[email protected]