This statement was delivered by Ms. Fernanda de Carvalho, our Advocacy Committee member for PAHO, at the Seventy-Sixth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Americas
SEVENTY-SIXTH SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE AMERICAS
AGENDA ITEM 4.6
Honourable Chair,
Distinguished Delegates,
The World Heart Federation commends the World Health Organization and its Member States for their Strategy.
Cardiovascular disease imposes significant economic burdens on individuals and households, often leading to catastrophic health expenditures and perpetuating generational poverty. Universal Health Coverage plays a key role in ensuring widespread access to cardiovascular health services for all.
Essential Public Health Functions serve as a foundation for health systems capable of achieving universal health coverage. Nonetheless, such systems require (1) sustainable financing, (2) empowered institutions, (3) a well-trained health workforce, (4) strengthened primary health care, and (5) robust cross-sector collaborations.
WHF urges governments to adopt the proposed resolution and implement, in partnership with civil society organizations, the eleven EPHFs to uphold the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
We further call on Member States to:
- Accelerate progress towards UHC through robust and well-financed PHC systems that ensure accessibility, affordability, quality, and equity;
- Expand UHC to provide comprehensive care, including prevention, diagnostics, treatment, and rehabilitation, for cardiovascular disease and its associated risk factors;
- Integrate evidence-based and cost-effective cardiovascular interventions into national UHC benefit packages, drawing from Appendix 3 of the WHO Global NCD Action Plan;
- Implement the HEARTS in the Americas initiative to provide a standardized model of care for cardiovascular risk management;
- Develop or strengthen National Cardiovascular Health Plans to secure sustainable funding for and wider access to cardiovascular health services across the continuum of care; and
- Engage civil society organizations, including people with lived experience, in cardiovascular health policies and establish mechanisms for community participation.
Thank you.
