Letter to editor

Concertation a practical tool to address global health problems, including vaccine-preventable diseases

Belkis Romeu-Álvarez^{1  *} 

¹ Instituto Finlay de Vacunas. La Habana, Cuba.

The health problems currently faced by the international community cannot be solved by individual approaches of countries. The lack of real borders to the major health challenges we face today makes it necessary for both the regional and global community to change their methodologies to prevent and face these challenges, while respecting the sovereignty of States and establishing ties of integration and cooperation.¹

The search for new concertation, dialog and exchange mechanisms in health related issues among the different sectors of the society, at regional and/or global level has forced a revision of the discourse for both the national and the international contexts.²

It is not possible to live and achieve the “Sustainable Development Goals”, especially the one aimed to achieve equitable, and quality health standards without the political will necessary to have health for all in a sustainable way.³

In a complex and rapidly changing world, where interconnectivity makes ancient barriers truly blurry, it is the duty among public policy makers and communication agents of the different Ministries to make the speech practical, objective and achievable, something we are far from accomplishing.⁴

Setting effective regional and national surveillance mechanisms, strengthening ourselves from the knowledge of our weaknesses and the strengths of our neighboring countries makes our vision as a Region becomes further focused. We should leave trivial speeches aside and recognize what makes us different in order to be able to dialog in a transparent manner.⁵

From a purely theoretical perspective, concertation could be thought as a mechanism of social management aimed at raising awareness. For example, ensuring that all activities linked to immunization programs are seen as forms of social development or as spaces for strengthening health agendas, this would ensure a high level of citizen empowerment and would produce therefore concrete results.

Globally, concertation could be more complex, but paternalism towards the most vulnerable countries cannot prevail, it cannot be that developed countries always try to buy their vulnerabilities as if they were talking about charity or philanthropy, making them more dependent in the future.⁶

For many years, Africa has needed help, but aid must come in a respectful, bilateral and beneficial way to both sides.⁶ Indeed, those who enrich themselves and take advantage of others’ problems there would remain the same; however, a well-balanced solution is to ensure that the majority think that with fewer words and more concrete actions true achievements can be attained.

Here, we list concrete examples which are both achievable and sustainable:

Training existing staff, as well as creating awareness in the sense that their knowledge can be applied in their own communities and countries. Do not adopt the Western teaching approach as the only capable and possible method.

Enhancing the credibility of our health institutions, only with a humanized and integrated treatment, the health personnel has in their hands the fundamental tool to convey a message of confidence and hope among the population.

Preventing must be our main premise, while keeping technological development and its positive contribution to the society development in sight.

Also, establishing a broad participatory practice through which stakeholders involved on health policies formulation, with an emphasis on preventable diseases control, generate agreements that help to conceptualize and execute them.⁷

Lastly, broadening the horizons of cooperation by taking into account Educational Cooperation, which is able to strengthening all the parties’ involved based on common values that unite us but respecting differences.

Referencias

1.  González-Fernández A. Reflexiones sobre Salud Pública Internacional. Rev. Cub. Salud Pública. 2011;37(4):372-9.

2.  Kickbusch I, Buse K. Global influences and global responses: international health at the turn of the twenty first century. In: Merson M, Black R, Mills A. International public health. London: Jones and Bartlett International; 2006. p.701-37.

3.  Organización Mundial de la Salud. Acelerar los progresos hacia el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio relacionados con la salud. Ginebra: OMS; 2010. Disponible en: https://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/mdg_brochure_es.pdf. 3.

4.  Otero P, Cocciro L, Horoch A, Peñaranda J. Educación. Alfabetización digital y eLearning como herramientas para la educación en salud. En: Vázquez D, Novillo-Ortiz D, Romero D, Pereira dos Santos E, Cialdella R. Conversaciones sobre eSalud. Gestión de información, diálogos e intercambio de conocimientos para acercarnos al acceso universal a la salud. Washington: Organización Panamericana de la Salud; 2014. p.253-88. Disponible en: http:// /xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/28391/9789275318287_spa.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.4.

5.  Alonso PL. Tendencias de la salud internacional: retos y oportunidades para nuestra sociedad. Gac Sanit 2003;17(3):175-8.

6.  Novales A. Redefiniendo la Cooperación al Desarrollo. Madrid: Real Academia de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas; 2013. Disponible en: https://www.ucm.es/data/cont/media/www/pag-42885/Redefiniendo%20la%20cooperacion%20al%20desarrollo.pdf. 6.

7.  Sanabria-Ramos G. Participación social en el campo de la salud. Rev. Cub. Salud Pública 2004;30(3). Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0864-34662004000300005&lng=es.7.

Received: March 22, 2019; Accepted: April 30, 2019

^* Autor para correspondencia: [e-mail]

* Dr. en Ciencias de la Salud (PhD). Investigador Auxiliar.