More equitable, sustainable and resilient health systems are possible in Latin America, according to the objectives of the Health 2030 Movement, which brings together the public and private sectors to drive health transformation in the region.
The initiative linked to the Movimiento Salud Foundation, which was presented this week in parallel to the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO), stems from a certain “frustration” at the lack of action of health systems in the region. According to Rolf Hönnger, field director for Roche Latin America, it is facing an increase in non-communicable diseases and ageing.
“The challenges that exist in health systems, going a little further, is that there is a transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases and that the population is aging, everyone sees it, but very few do, Hoenger explained. ,
Anticipating future needs, several academic institutions, Microsoft, Roche and Siemens Healthineers created this movement in 2020 to bring all sectors together to work in thriving communities through innovation in healthcare driven by a collaborative network. brings together.
“If you want to make a difference, you need to be a partner of different industries, that we complement each other and help solve problems, and that only happens globally, locally and in the ecosystem works closely with countries for innovation and health”, Honzer maintains.
Influence in latin america
The initiative has a presence in Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico, says Hoenger, and about 70 experts participate.
The Health 2030 Movement collaborates with open innovation challenges and co-creation spaces, such as Round Table, to address the quality gap and promote equitable access to health with high-impact solutions.
The problems identified in the two and a half years of operation include lack of interoperability in health information systems, lack of improvement in skills and knowledge of health professionals in digital tools, absence of a legal framework for data management, and low investment.
“Lack of investment in health is a serious problem and there are many countries that are in this situation. If we want sustainable development of the society, we have to invest more resources in health, but secondly we also know that That 30 percent to 40 percent of the investment is wasted more or less.
This, he said, is reflected in the fact that tools such as data access have gone waste and technology has not been invested in digital health.
“What we have to do is achieve efficient health systems with equal resources,” he said.
For this reason, the movement seeks to catalyze the development of health care systems to be more equitable, sustainable and resilient, especially after the effects of the pandemic in the region.
So far in Peru, for example, an innovative method of public management has been implemented to convert financial resources into better health care outcomes.
Whereas, in Chile, in collaboration with “startups” they work with health authorities to integrate their solutions into a systemic solution.
In Colombia, two solutions were implemented: “Clinique”, which takes advantage of telemedicine to improve the quality of life of patients with diabetes and epilepsy; and “Salad 360”, which connects insurers and healthcare providers to facilitate contact and follow-up with one application.
Honegger stresses that the idea is that this type of model is replicable and scalable in Latin America and the world.
“Through pilots we can demonstrate that this is not a utopia, we can demonstrate the impact of innovation, the implementation of digital health in countries”, he concluded.
