Strategic Fund. Annual Report 2017. Access to quality medicines and health

ABSTRACT

The Strategic Fund is a regional technical cooperation mechanism for pooled procurement of essential medicines and strategic public health supplies in the Americas. The Strategic Fund was created in 2000 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) at the request of the Member States. Since then, the Fund has worked with countries to improve access to medicines and other health technologies, by strengthening demand planning and the organization of national supply management systems, while facilitating access to affordable strategic public health supplies through a pooled procurement mechanism. In accordance with 2016-2017 mandates of the PAHO Governing Bodies, the technical cooperation program of work in support of participation of Member States in the Fund has focused on a) increasing the response capacity and efficiency of operations of the Fund in countries; b) the development of national and regional market intelligence; and c) the strengthening of the key alliances and strategic partnerships. As of December 2017, 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have signed participation agreements with the PAHO Strategic Fund (Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, the British Virgin Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay, and Venezuela).