Regional Consultation Meeting: “Integration and Convergence

for Health in Latin America and the Caribbean”

Venue: Headquarters of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA).

Andrés Bello Conference Room. Av. Francisco de Miranda,

Torre Europa, 5th Floor. Campo Alegre.

Caracas, Venezuela, 29 and 30 March 2010

Background   |   Objectives   |   Provisional Agenda   |   Documents

Venue and Date   |   Languages   |   Hotels   |    Transport

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Background

The fight against poverty and social exclusion is at the very basis of the political agendas of all the Member States of SELA. For this reason, it is necessary to make efforts to materialize cooperation and integration actions among our countries in this area. In this regard, over the last few years, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA – upon a decision of its Member States – has included various actions related to the social dimension of integration and development in its activities.

One of the activities conducted by SELA as regards this issue was the Regional Meeting on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), held on 6 and 7 August 2007. Participants in that meeting included representatives of the Member States as well as delegates of various subregional, regional and multilateral organizations working with the issue of social development.

In the conclusions of that regional meeting, the delegates recognized that it is necessary to structure mechanisms at the regional level that allow for identifying the most successful experiences and to find possible common ground to contribute to making strides in the fight against poverty in LAC, while strengthening regional integration and cooperation efforts as regards this extremely sensitive issue for society in Latin America and the Caribbean from the political standpoint.

Within the framework of this first Regional Meeting on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Member States reached a decision by consensus on a series of conclusions and recommendations (See SP/RR-DSIALC/IF-07), and proposed to hold a Regional Seminar with the participation of relevant social actors, and a Second Regional Meeting on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. These two events should focus on four specific areas: education, health, employment and housing.

Consequently, the Regional Seminar for Consultation on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean took place on 16 and 17 July 2008, and the II Regional Meeting on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean was held on 18 July. These two events focused on the four thematic areas mentioned above: education, health, employment and housing; they were attended by representatives of various social organizations, as well as delegates of the Member States and all the subregional and regional integration groupings.

One of the challenges identified in the second regional meeting was the need to coordinate the social dimension with the other areas of domestic economic policy and the external relations policy of the various nations, which also includes all the issues related to the integration process. This implies to implement joint, sustained medium- and long-term actions among the countries, the subregional and regional integration and cooperation organizations, and international institutions with specific mandates related to the social dimension of development, with a view to attaining convergence and integration of projects with a regional scope in key areas or sectors for social development.

During the XXXV Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA (Caracas, 27 - 29 October 2008), the Member States approved Decision No. 512 “Integration and Convergence for Health in Latin America and the Caribbean”, urging the Permanent Secretariat – in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) – to start conducting top-priority activities in order to contribute to integration and convergence in the health sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, in coordination with the bodies of the various subregional integration groupings in LAC cooperating in the area of health.

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Objectives

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

1. To 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.

2. To 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.

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

4. To 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.

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Preliminary Agenda for the Meeting

Monday, 29 March 2010 Morning
8:30 am – 9:00 am	Registration and accreditation
9:00 am – 9:30 am	Opening ceremony
	Speech by His Excellency Mohammed Ali Odeen Ishmael, Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Chairman of the Latin American Council Speech by the representative of the Executive Secretariat of the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Speech by Dr. Jorge Jenkins, Representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) – World Health Organization (WHO) in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela   Speech by Ambassador José Rivera Banuet, Permanent Secretary of SELA
First Session:	“Experiences with cooperation in the health sector in Latin America and the Caribbean” Presiding: His Excellency Mohammed Ali Odeen Ishmael, Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Chairman of the Latin American Council
9:30 am – 10:00 am	Presentation of the document “Experiences with cooperation in the health sector in LAC. Critical assessment and proposals for actions with a regional scope”
	Dr. Ariela Ruiz Caro, Consultant of SELA
10:00 am – 11:20 am	Perspectives of various regional and subregional organizations (I)
	Representative of the Secretariat of Central American Social Integration (SISCA) / Council of Central American Health Ministers (COMISCA) Representative of the Andean Health Agency – Hipólito Unanue Agreement Representative of the Division for Social and Human Development of CARICOM Representative of the Secretariat of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
11:20 am – 11:30 am	Coffee break
11:30 am – 12:30 m	Perspectives of various regional and subregional organizations (II) Representative of the ALBA-Salud Project Representative of the Work Subgroup Nº 11 of MERCOSUR Representative of the Council of Health Ministers of UNASUR
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm	Free time for lunch
Afternoon
Second Session:	“Political spaces in Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen cooperation in the health sector among the countries of the region”   Presiding: His Excellency Erick Roberto Molina Sandoval, Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala, First Vice-Chairman of the Latin American Council
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm	a) Trade policy in LAC countries and possibilities to strengthen cooperation in the health sector in the region
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm	Presentation by Dr. Osvaldo Rosales, Director of the Division of International Trade and Integration of ECLAC
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm	Debate among the representatives of the Member States of SELA
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm	Coffee break
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm	b) Intellectual property norms and possibilities to strengthen cooperation in the health sector in the region
3:45 pm – 4:15 pm	Presentation by Dr. Mario Cimoli, Director of the Division of Productive and Business Development of ECLAC
4:15 pm – 4:45 pm	Debate among the representatives of the Member States of SELA
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm	Perspective of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on integration and convergence for health in LAC
4:45 pm – 5:15 pm	Presentation by Dr. Rebecca de los Ríos, Official in the Area of External Relations, Mobilization of Resources and Partnerships,  Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
5:15 pm – 5:45 pm	Debate among the representatives of the Member States of SELA
5:45 pm – 6:45 pm	Cocktail
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 Morning
Third Session:	“Political spaces in Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen cooperation in the health sector among the countries of the region” (Continuation)   Presiding: His Excellency Jorge Alvarado Rivas, Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Ambassador of the Plurinational Republic of Bolivia, Second Vice-Chairman of the Latin American Council
9:00 am – 10:30 am	c) “E-Health and ICTs as central elements of cooperation for health in Latin America and the Caribbean”
9:00 am – 9:30 am	Presentation by Dr. Andrés Fernández, official in charge of e-health in the ECLAC cooperation project
9:30 am – 10:00 am	Presentation by Dr. Francisco E. Vieira, Official of the Division of Science and Technology of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
10:00 am – 10:30 am	Debate among the representatives of the Member States of SELA
10:30 am – 11:00 am	Coffee break
11:00 am – 12:00 m.	Approval of Conclusions and Recommendations
12:00 m. – 12:30 pm	Closing ceremony
	Speech by His Excellency Mohammed Ali Odeen Ishmael, Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Chairman of the Latin American Council.
	Speech by Ambassador José Rivera Banuet, Permanent Secretary of SELA.

Documents

Analytical base document:

"Cooperation experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean in the area of health. Critical balance and proposals for action with a regional scope"