Health in the Spotlight

Mirta Roses Periago is guest blogging for the Forum. She is the Regional Director, World Health Organization, The Americas, Pan American Health Organization and has been attending the World Economic Forum on Latin America

This year is a milestone year for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and mental health because of the UN High Level Meeting (UN HLM) on NCDs taking place in September in New York.

At the World Economic Summit on Latin America this week in Rio de Janeiro, a side-event co-organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Economic Forum (the Forum) brought together government and industry representatives as well as some key NGOs to discuss the topics of salt/sodium reduction and the promotion of healthy workplaces for the region.

The Workplace Wellness Alliance, lead by the Forum and counting 43 member companies so far, will look at developing a regional communication and recruitment plan to ensure that Latin America be a part of this important initiative. As for salt/sodium reduction, a constructive multi-stakeholder dialogue resulted in an agreement on key elements for a framework towards reducing the over-consumption of salt for better population health as a whole.

At the official Summit, I attended sessions on the role of women in solving regional challenges such as health; and in both the first session on Global Risks with an Impact in Latin America and the session on Sustainable food production I raised the importance of safe and nutritious food to address the burden of NCDs and make the healthy choice the easy choice. In the discussion on an Innovation Decade for Latin America, the link between social innovation and inclusive and sustainable growth was noted with relevance to public policies that protect the people and the planet in their fight against NCDs and for well-being. Last but not least, I was thrilled to see that health will be linked to the Forum’s Risk Response Network, as having health incorporated into agendas across the board is an essential step addressing its impact on economic growth and development.

We will be also re-launching the PAHO Partners’ Forum for Action on NCDs at the UN HLM, to provide a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement in the Americas. This will continue showcasing the region as a pioneer in fostering inclusive and sustainable collaboration against NCDs.

Looking forward to continuing our collaboration with the Forum on health issues, we are also eager to hear about the historic Ministerial Meeting that took place in Moscow this week.

Yours in health,

Mitra