Guatemala, November 2022 (PAHO/WHO) – Within the framework of the signing of an inter-institutional declaration and letter of agreement, between WONKA (World Organization of Family Doctors), the Ibero-American Confederation of Family and Community Medicine ( CIMF), the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS), and the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), product of the VIII Ibero-American Summit of Family and Community Medicine that was held in the country on November 10 and 11, Recognition was given to the team from the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Guatemala, for the technical and strategic support provided.
In this regard, Dr. Gerardo Alfaro, Representative of PAHO/WHO Guatemala, said that “The joint work allowed us to develop an interesting agenda with activities prior to the summit, in which recognized international figures in family medicine participated. of great experience and trajectory in the transformation of health systems in several countries of the Region, contributing with their interventions to highlight the political-strategic relevance that the Summit represents for Guatemala.”
Doctor Alfaro added that the initiative to hold the VIII Summit in Guatemala is the product of an effort by the inter-institutional roundtable, made up of the MSPAS and the IGSS, which has decided to continue joint efforts to promote and sustain the transformations required by the National System. of health.
“The summit served as a platform to achieve the political, sincere and frank commitment of both the Minister of Health and the president of the Board of Directors of the IGSS, to train specialists in family and community health, for the first time in the history of Guatemala; but also, for generating a series of initiatives aimed at producing a National Policy that allows progress towards the transformation of the national health system”, said Dr. Alfaro.