Washington, D.C., 19 December 2025 (PAHO) — Throughout 2025, PAHO supported the countries of the Americas in responding to emergencies, eliminating diseases, and advancing health self-reliance. The year was marked by significant challenges, but also by encouraging results made possible through regional cooperation and the commitment of Member States and partners.

PAHO 2025 key achievements

1. Strengthening health security
PAHO’s epidemiological intelligence activities analyzed more than 1.8 million signals and detected 128 new public health events, issuing early alerts to address threats such as avian influenza A(H5N1), yellow fever, pertussis, dengue, chikungunya, oropouche, influenza, and other respiratory viruses.
 

In Colombia, a PAHO-led training on epizootic surveillance enabled the detection of a yellow fever outbreak based on three dead primates, preventing its spread to urban areas. Countries across the region strengthened vector, laboratory, and community surveillance, reinforcing preparedness for health emergencies.

 2. Progress in disease elimination
The regional initiative to eliminate more than 30 diseases and related conditions by 2030 delivered concrete results: Brazil eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and Suriname was certified malaria-free. Barbados, The Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands requested verification of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and Chile requested verification of leprosy elimination.
 

Progress was also made toward the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease, with Bolivia and Brazil certified free of the disease without vaccination, and the Trachoma Elimination Initiative was strengthened in nine countries in its second year, as part of a partnership with the Government of Canada.
 

PAHO introduced a technical tool to guide the best buys to disease elimination, a regional agreement to eliminate syphilis—which has been increasing since 2020—and launched a new regional alliance to accelerate HIV elimination.
 

3. Sustaining immunization gains amid measles setbacks

Although the Region of the Americas lost its measles elimination certification due to a prolonged outbreak in Canada, other countries in the region strengthened catch-up campaigns and surveillance, while maintaining achievements such as 31 years free of polio.
 

PAHO noted that while coverage for measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis B improved, more than 1.4 million children did not receive routine vaccines in 2024 and renewed the call to close these gaps. The Region leads globally in HPV vaccination, with 76% coverage among girls under 15, and Cuba became the last country in the Region to introduce HPV vaccination in 2025. Nevertheless, PAHO emphasized the need to sustain efforts to reach the global target of 90% coverage, a key goal for advancing the elimination of cervical cancer.

4. Emergencies: Hurricane Melissa and cholera in Haiti

Hurricane Melissa tested Caribbean resilience. PAHO deployed technical teams and more than 23 tons of supplies to support Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba, including 16 Emergency Medical Teams. Jamaica’s Smart Hospitals—retrofitted by PAHO and the United Kingdom—remained operational under Category 5 winds.
 

In Haiti, PAHO strengthened surveillance and response to a cholera outbreak, with 372 suspected cases and 17 deaths between September and November 2025. PAHO also inaugurated an Emergency Operations Center in Barbados to coordinate preparedness and response in the Caribbean.

5. Progress toward health self-reliance

Argentina and Brazil expanded mRNA vaccine production capacity, and PAHO’s Revolving Funds delivered more than 200 million doses and expanded pooled procurement of diagnostics, treatments, and telehealth kits. PAHO launched its High-Cost Medicines Policy to improve access to therapies for rare and chronic diseases.
 

Notable milestones include the production of the PCV20 pneumococcal vaccine in Argentina and making the 9-valent HPVvaccine available in 2025, to prevent cervical cancer. These initiatives are consolidating a regional production hub that benefits Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Brazil signed an agreement with PAHO’s Revolving Funds to update vaccines.
 

6. Preventing suicide through new regional initiative

In response to a 17% increase in suicide death rate since 2000—the only region globally with a rising trend—PAHO launched an initiativeto strengthen national plans, expand community-based mental health services, reduce stigma, and train health teams in early detection.
 

PAHO also joined the first Inter-American Mental Health Week with the OAS and launched an online course to improve the mental health care of children and adolescents in primary health care.
 

7. Noncommunicable diseases: Better Care for NCDs

PAHO launched the initiative’s learning pathway, integrating more than 50 courses and reaching 360,000 trainees in 2025, including over 34,000 certified in the introductory course.
 

More than 10,000 primary health care facilities now implement HEARTS for hypertension and cardiovascular risk management. The new HEARTS Quality Framework, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, provides a scalable model to improve blood pressure control.
 

Through a new report developed with Harvard, PAHO warned of the health and macroeconomic burdens of noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions in South America—including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes—which remain the leading causes of death in the Americas.
 

In this context, diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the Region. To strengthen the quality of diabetes care, PAHO launched the course Caring for People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Primary Health Care. In addition, with the Organization’s support, nine countries are intensifying efforts to curb overweight and obesity, which affect 67.5% of adults and 37.6% of children and adolescents in the Americas.

 8. Digital transformation accelerating access and surveillance
Through the Pan-American Highway for Digital Health, promoted with the IDB, 20 countries advanced integration of artificial intelligence, telehealth, and interoperability to strengthen decision-making and service delivery.
 

Bolivia received 20 telehealth kits and five maternal-fetal monitors via PAHO’s Revolving Funds to expand teleconsultations and remote monitoring in rural and hard-to-reach areas.
 

The ultra-portable telehealth kits launched this year and available at one-fifth the cost of purchasing equipment separately, help expand access, improve continuity of care and decision-making, and ensure timely specialized diagnoses, especially in isolated communities.
 

9. Strengthening primary health care—PHC

A report by the World Bank–PAHO Lancet Regional Health – AmericasCommission presented a five-point plan to improve resilient, people-centered primary health care (PHC) that protects health during and after emergencies. PHC is the most inclusive, equitable, and cost-effective approach to improving physical and mental health.
 

In addition, the Alliance for Primary Health Care, led by PAHO with the World Bank and the IDB, welcomed Chile, El Salvador, Panama, and Paraguay. As part of their accession, the countries established consultative platforms to coordinate investments, strengthen integrated services, and advance more equitable health systems. In El Salvador, a US$120 million project was launched to expand access to PHC—the first loan negotiated under the Alliance.
 

10. International partnerships expanding impact

Canada, the European Union, France, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom; financial institutions such as CAF, the IDB, and the World Bank; and international agencies and funds including the Gates Foundation, Unitaid, the India–UN Development Partnership Fund, CEPI, and the WHO Foundation, among others, deepened partnerships with PAHO on immunization, resilient health systems, regional vaccine production, emergency response, and pandemic preparedness.
 

Strategic agreements were signed to expand access to health services, strengthen regulatory systems, organ donation, emergency response, and regulatory harmonization across Latin America and the Caribbean. These joint efforts multiply the impact of health actions throughout the Region.
 

PAHO’s commitment to a healthier 2026

“Looking ahead to 2026, PAHO reaffirms its commitment to leaving no one behind,” said PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa in his year-end message. “Health is the foundation of development, security, economic stability, and social resilience.”
 

This commitment, together with regional cooperation, will be realized in 2026 and beyond through PAHO’s new Strategic Plan 2026–2031, approved by Member States in September 2025.
 

The Plan sets clear objectives: addressing NCDs, mental health, health security, system fragmentation, and the elimination of communicable diseases, with measurable impacts such as reducing maternal mortality, lowering suicide rates, and eliminating diseases like leprosy and Chagas disease—consolidating health gains for all people in the Americas.