SELA ORGANIZES REGIONAL CONSULTATION MEETING ON “INTEGRATION AND CONVERGENCE FOR HEALTH IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN”

Caracas, 15 July – The headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) will be the venue of the Regional Consultation Meeting on “Integration and Convergence for Health in Latin America and the Caribbean”, to be held in 22 and 23 July. The meeting is aimed at analyzing the progress and limitations of the commitments taken on in the area of health and promoted within the framework of various regional integration organizations, as well as medium and long-term proposals for action to support those commitments.

This meeting, which will be attended by representatives of the 27 Member States of SELA and regional and subregional organizations, is the first official activity of the Project “Integration and Convergence for Health in Latin America and the Caribbean (INCOSALC)”, approved by the Latin American Council.

The objectives of this first regional consultation meeting are as follows:

Conduct an assessment of the progress and the limitations of the commitments taken on by the Latin American and Caribbean countries within the context of the regional integration processes related to the health sector.

Hold debates among the representatives of the Member States of SELA and the relevant regional and subregional forums working in this area, as regards the experiences gained, best practices and expectations concerning integration and convergence for health in LAC.

Discuss some general ideas on the political spaces existing in the countries of the region – in the areas of trade policies, intellectual property standards, use of e-health and Information and Communication Technologies – in order to strengthen cooperation and integration in LAC.

Draft some thematic proposals for the work to be conducted by SELA during the period 2010-2011, in cooperation with ECLAC, PAHO and other relevant subregional institutions, based on Decision No. 512 of the Latin American Council.

Participants will include representatives of the Secretariat of Central American Social Integration (SISCA); the Council of Central American Health Ministers (COMISCA); the Andean Health Organization - Hipólito Unanue Convention; the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); the ALBA-Health Project; the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR); the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

At this meeting, SELA will present the document “Cooperation experiences in the health sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: Critical assessment and proposals for actions with a regional scope”, which includes proposals to move forward in terms of integration and convergence for health in the region.

The study describes the evolution of the efforts to implement common policies and projects in the area of health by longstanding subregional integration organizations, such as the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Andean Community (CAN), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Common Market of the South (NERCOSUR). Moreover, the document summarizes the agreements adopted and the projects underway within the context of ALBA, the Mesoamerica Project and UNASUR, organizations that have defined the health sector as one of their fundamental fields of action to make strides towards regional integration.

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