One of the profound lessons that the still present pandemic has left us is that health and the economy are closely linked. The great experience should lead us to conclude that for economic recovery in Mexico and throughout Latin America, access to health is key.
The problem is that according to a recent study, close to 30% of the people who live in the countries of the Americas did not seek health care when they needed it due to multiple factors related to access. It was a fact that emerged recently in the framework of World Health Day on April 7 and reveals the great challenge that the region has ahead.
At the same time, there is data that indicates that at the end of 2020 the global economic losses due to the pandemic reached up to 375,000 million dollars per month. This derived from the paralysis triggered by Covid-19 that forced us to stay isolated and protected without leaving home. The Latin American region will have contributed its share in that figure and therefore, it is up to them to see how to recover quickly so as not to fall into stagnation.
How to ensure that the decision-making authorities are clear that access to health must be guaranteed in order for there to be well-being and economic growth? If there is no health, there is no production, there is no boost to the economy, there is no productivity, and there is no productive expansion. The more people have access to proper health coverage, the easier it will be to shore up Latin America’s recovery. In principle, understanding it and acting accordingly is a great challenge for our nations that have been hit hard by the health crisis.
In this regard, one of the laboratories active in promoting this approach is Pfizer, which has played a leading role with its anticovid vaccines and now also its anticovid pills. Its president for AL, Carlos Murillo, said that medical advances and innovations lose meaning if they do not reach the hands of the patients who need them. For this reason, he pointed out, it is essential that all the actors of society work in
together to create innovative access models and positively impact people’s quality of life.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), facilitating such access requires the implementation of actions with a multisectoral approach and thus encourage the commitment of the entire society to promote the health and well-being of its inhabitants.
Another important point is that science is making great leaps from the efforts of the last two years of the pandemic; it was a unification of efforts of companies, academia, governments and multilateral organizations such as the WHO, and this is generating new knowledge such as messenger RNA technology.
Innovations in other vaccines or treatments will surely be emerging from it, and it is important that all of humanity benefits from these scientific achievements. The scientists point out that the medical innovations that will be coming out between now and the year 2025 can mark a before and after in people’s lives and, therefore, be a positive factor in their well-being and in the region’s productivity. But, we insist, if there are no roads to access these advances, they will be of little use.
Journalist on economics and health issues
Health and Business
Communicator specialized in public health and the health industry. She is studying a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at FCA of UNAM.
Founder in 2004 of www.Plenilunia.com, a concept on women’s health. I am passionate about researching and reporting on health, innovation, the industry related to science, and finding the objective business approach to each topic.