nnounced during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in mid-2022, the annual multisectoral forum Americas RISE for Health seeks to harness the collective strengths of the private sector and civil society of the region (comprising countries in North, Central, and South America), in partnership with the participating countries’ governments, to build the hemisphere’s supply chains to be more resilient, enable digital health solutions to reach underserved populations, accelerate regulatory improvements, reduce trade and investment barriers to health financing, create ethical environments so health economies can thrive, and address other areas of need.

Working alongside the government initiative Economy and Health Dialogue of the Americas (EHA), RISE is a first-of-its-kind, novel initiative for complementary efforts that focus on the challenges (and opportunities) of building resilient, inclusive, sustainable, equitable health economies and ecosystems that different stakeholders share.

RISE 1 convened in March 2023 in Panama City, gathering representatives of 11 governments, 25 private sector entities, 20 civil society organizations, and academia. With support from the US Department of Health & Human Services, and in partnership with the Americas Business Dialogue (ABD) Health Working Group and the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy (REDLAD), participants (see below) agreed on a consensus statement which established the foundation for subsequent RISE activities. Areas of opportunity selected for this initiative included building resilient, pandemic-prepared health economies and supply chains; accelerating regulatory improvements; ensuring sufficient, efficient, equitable health investments; creating ethical environments in which our health economies can thrive; building better health for all communities; and enabling digital health solutions. Each area of opportunity was translated into a work stream, including one defined as “Regulatory Improvements” and focused on promoting Good Regulatory Practices and regulatory convergence.

During RISE 2, scheduled for March 2024 in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), participants are expected to adopt a more detailed work plan, including a strong capacity-building component, for this regulatory work stream. Participation in RISE is open to representatives from countries invited to the Summit of the Americas. Given the key roles of the private sector and civil society in achieving the RISE objectives, their participation is welcome and organized through ABD and REDLAD.

Global Forum will continue to provide reports on this initiative as more information becomes available.