St Kitts Ex-PM attends two-day high-level commission meeting in Mexico

Former prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and Leader of the Opposition, The Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is in Mexico to attend a meeting of the High-level Commission "Universal Health in the 21st century: 40 years of Alma-Ata"

Dr. Douglas was appointed to the Commission by PAHO Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne. The Commission is headed by former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet.

The February 7 and 8 meeting at the Hotel Sheraton María Isabel, Mexico City, the commission members along with PAHO/WHO's Director, will receive the draft report with recommendations on health systems transformation processes towards universal health; the achievements made since the Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted, and the barriers that persist to achieve the universal and equitable access to goods and services.

The report will highlight aspects such as the achievement of the right to health, equity and solidarity, developing and strengthening mechanisms to promote social dialogue; the people and community empowerment; inter-sectorality, transparency and accountability.

These are key elements in order to achieve the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2018-2030.

In continuation of the activities of the Commission, PAHO/WHO, as Technical Secretariat of the Commission, has organized the working meeting in Mexico City to discuss the elements and structure of the final report.

The Technical Secretariat of the Commission and the Commissioners will participate in the two-day meeting that has as the main objectives presenting the progress made in the discussion and technical production of the thematic discussion groups, review and discuss the draft report document and make agreement about the content and format of the final version of the report, to be launched in April 2019.