WASHINGTON, USA, (PAHO) – Countries in South America are advancing the consolidation of coordinated early warning systems for public health along the region’s bioceanic corridors, within the framework of the PROTECT project (Pandemic Response Optimization through Engaged Communities and Territories), an initiative supported by the Pandemic Fund to strengthen preparedness and response to health threats.
This regional effort, led by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), builds on the process initiated in October 2025 in Asunción, Paraguay, where the foundations were laid for the development of an integrated epidemic intelligence system among Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru. Since then, countries have defined shared priorities and strengthened technical cooperation, information exchange, and institutional coordination in cross-border contexts.
During a virtual session held in April, representatives from participating countries reviewed progress, identified gaps, and aligned actions toward the end of 2026, consolidating lines of work at both national and multi-country levels. These include governance, systems interoperability, epidemiological surveillance, laboratory capacities, and workforce development, with the aim of advancing a regional architecture for epidemic intelligence and early warning.
This regional effort responds to the need to anticipate and manage health risks in territories characterized by intense population mobility and commercial activity, where timely detection and coordination among countries are essential.
This process reaffirms the value of these cooperation spaces as platforms for sustaining technical dialogue among countries in increasingly dynamic contexts and contributes to positioning epidemic intelligence and early warning as central components of the regional public health agenda. It also highlights PROTECT’s contribution in aligning capacities and priorities across surveillance, laboratory systems, and intersectoral coordination, in response to operational needs in high-mobility settings.
PROTECT (Pandemic Response Optimization Through Engaged Communities and Territories) aims to enhance the capacity, preparedness, and engagement of participating countries for early detection and response to future pandemics through intersectoral and multilevel coordination and cooperation among stakeholders in the Amazon Basin.
The project is a collaboration among the ministries of health and agriculture of seven countries, the Organización Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO) and the Banco Mundial (World Bank) as implementing entities, and the Centro Panamericano de Fiebre Aftosa y Salud Pública Veterinaria (PANAFTOSA/SPV) of PAHO.