Thread by @ASCOA

*LIVE broadcast, Wednesday, June 3, 2pm ET*

Hear @FeliciaKnaul, @fitzgerjf, @the_IDB's Fernando Regalia, @MDTLATAM's Hugo Villegas, @RocheLatam's Rolf Hoenger, and Amil's Fernando Pedro discuss the future of healthcare in Latin America.

#healthcareASCOA twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

We are live to discuss telehealth and the future of healthcare in Latin America and the Caribbean.

There will be 2 1-hour panels. Join us!
#healthcareASCOA

Beyond infrastructure challenges, @RocheLatam's Rolf Hoenger shares lessons learned in Latin America in recent months:

"If you look at potential digital solutions, I immediately ask myself: What do we need to do to adapt regulations and healthcare systems?"

Hugo Villegas of @MDTLATAM shows how the company has responded to the COVID-19 crisis and how they plan to change management of the company in the future.

#healthcareASCOA

Hugo Villegas of @MDTLATAM talks about "COVID-fobia" as chronic patients who need care avoid going to hospitals right now afraid of the virus.

We created panels across hospitals on how to share information on a path to patients, said Villegas.
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Do you see best practices in the region when it comes to adapting the healthcare system to the current times and the private sector's tools? @ericfarns asks.

@RocheLatam's R. Hoenger mentions Peru's first public-private telemedicine app.

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Amil's Fernando Pedro says the pandemic was an opportunity to accelerate changes on telemedicine.

"In Brazil, the medical council released us to use telehealth during the crisis. We collected a lot of data and are learning how to leverage the tool."

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"We're seeing significant changes in the market drivers." Investing in innovation and changing the business model are key factos, says @MDTLATAM's Hugo Villegas.

"There'll be more need of healthcare with limited budget. Need to better align our objectives."

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In Latin America, only one third of population have access to top technology in healthcare, says @MDTLATAM's Hugo Villegas, explaining that expansion of telemedicine would also expand access to healthcare to many in the region.

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Amil's Fernando Pedro says the lack of resources increases the efforts to finding new tools and to expand access to certain communities. The company has experience with telenurse in Brazil.

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How to move from lessons learned to renewed/better access to healthcare?

@RocheLatam's Rolf Hoenger says when public and private sectors collaborate and connect, we can make real improvements to patients' lives.

"Need to keep this communication line open."

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Moving on to our second #healthcareASCOA panel:
@fitzgerjf @FeliciaKnaul and @the_IDB's Ferdinando Regalia speak w/@zoe_dauth on the public sector perspective.

Watch live: as-coa.org/events/future-…

The Americas are the new pandemic epicenter. @fitzgerjf gives an overview:
1- This is a social and economic crisis, not just health one.
2- There's a false choice between emergency response and investing in health systems.
3- This is an opportunity for change.

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Ferdinando Regalia (@the_IDB @BIDgente):
42% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases are in Latin America, but the region is not homogeneous. There're differences between countries' access to care and sanitation.

You can see the numbers here: as-coa.org/articles/where…

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Why did Latin American and the Caribbean become the epicenter?

"We saw this coming," says @FeliciaKnaul. We have probably the fastest aging process in the low/middle-income world. We have repressive regimes, conflict-related migration, and weak health systems.

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As we've seen absence of polices or polices that were against evidence-based info, that left countries in the hands of state polices, @FeliciaKnaul explains. So there's hope in convincing state leaders to step up and enforce social distancing as they open up.

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Under/unemployment rate of female physicians in the region is an underlining problem.

We didn't see many people dying in their homes of COVID. We'll see this in LatAm, and those are under the care of women at home, who are not protected, says @FeliciaKnaul

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Collectively, we need to maintain previous levels of healthcare expenditure and we need some capital investment to transform care, says @the_IDB @BIDgente's Ferdinando Regalia.

Digital infrastructure could be efficient, but an expensive investment as well.

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One of the issues we're going to be looking at is how vaccines and other technology developed right now will be produced and implemented across the region, which has different regulations, says @fitzgerjf.

"Equity/fair access will be an issue in the process."

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We're done with our #healthcareASCOA panel on the future of healthcare in Latin America and the Caribbean as the region becomes the new epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic.

You can watch the full event here:
as-coa.org/events/future-…

For more of our coverage of COVID-19 in Latin America, access our tracker: as-coa.org/content/ascoa-…