Hosted in partnership with the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law, Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Harvard Law School and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.
Latin America is an extremely diverse region, but there are some commonalities across countries in terms of socio-economic and other inequalities that deeply impact social determinants of health. Most countries have fragmented health systems that further aggravate inequities and present challenges for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The COVID-19 pandemic brought many health systems to verge of collapse. The region faces a growing burden of chronic diseases, while governance is affected by regulatory deficits, the absence of systematic priority-setting, and high degrees of judicialization of health rights. Further, multiple countries in the region are moving toward more conservative governments aligned with the Trump administration, and these shifts may directly affect health financing and governance. This session addresses some of these themes as well as the role for PAHO at this critical juncture.
“Fragmentation is not just an efficiency aspect; it’s a human‑rights perspective and we have to look after that.”
– Victor Zamora
Former Minister of Health and Social Protection (2012-2018); Former Minister of National Education (2022-2023), Colombia
Alejandro Gaviria, PhD is a Colombian economist, writer, and politician. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California and has served as Colombia’s Minister of Health and Social Protection and as Minister of Education. He has worked as a researcher at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and has held senior academic leadership positions at the University of the Andes, including Dean of the Faculty of Economics and President of the University. Dr. Gaviria has published dozens of academic articles on social policy and development and has authored more than ten books that blend literary essay with a critical perspective on contemporary politics.
Regional Advisor, Evidence and Information for Health Economics and Financing, PAHO/WHO
Claudia Pescetto is a Chilean economist, graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and holds a Master of Arts in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the Regional Advisor for Evidence and Information in Health Economics and Financing at the PAHO/WHO office in Washington, DC. She has more than 20 years of international experience providing policy advice on health financing reforms and helping countries develop capacities related to these topics. She is the author and co-author of several publications on public policy in health financing; measurement and analysis of health and primary care expenditure; strategic purchasing and design of payment mechanisms in integrated health service networks; fiscal and budget space in health; public financial management and effective budget execution in health; among others. Before joining PAHO/WHO, Claudia worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a research analyst in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department. During her professional career in Peru, she worked for the Macro group as a macroeconomist and later as an analyst of stock market and financial assets.
Former Minister of Health, Peru; Professor of Health Policy at the School of Government and Public Policy, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru; Executive Director, Gobierna Consultores SAC
Victor Zamora is a distinguished physician and health policy expert with nearly 40 years of experience in health systems across Latin America and the Caribbean. He served as Peru’s Minister of Health (2020–2021), leading the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Zamora has an extensive background in international cooperation, including roles as an International Advisor for PAHO/WHO and DFID-UK, and Assistant Representative for UNFPA. He holds a Master’s degree in Health Management, Planning, and Policy from the University of Leeds (UK) and postgraduate studies in Health Economics from Pompeu Fabra University (Spain). Currently, he is the Executive Director of Gobierna Consultores SAC and a Professor of Government and Health Policy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is also a published author on health governance, resilience, and equity.
Lecturer on Law and the Senior Fellow on Global Health and Rights, Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law School; Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Alicia Ely Yamin, JD, MPH, PhD is a Lecturer on Law and the Director of the Global Health and Rights Project at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School; Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; and Senior Adviser on Human Rights and Health Policy at Partners In Health. Known globally for her trans-disciplinary work in relation to economic and social rights, reproductive justice, the right to health, and the intersections between development paradigms and human rights, Dr. Yamin’s career has bridged academia and activism. She has lived in Latin America and East Africa for much of her professional life and worked with local advocacy organizations, including co-founding a program on health and human rights in the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (Lima, Peru; 1999). Dr. Yamin has served on numerous WHO and UN expert committees and regularly provides testimony and guidance to tribunals and legislative bodies around the globe in relation to the application of international and comparative law to health and sexual and reproductive rights issues.
At the 2026 Global Health Symposium, hosted by the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) on April 16, policymakers, practitioners, academics, and students gathered around a central idea: achieving global health equity in an age of scarcity requires moving from fragmented systems to shared responsibility.
