People and Community University

Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas to host webinar on COVID-19 in the Americas

University of Miami President Julio Frenk, a leading global public health expert and former health minister of Mexico, will participate in the event.
Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas to host webinar on COVID-19 in the Americas

The University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas will host a live webinar, COVID-19 in the Americas: Systemic Responses, on Wednesday, April 8, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

The featured speaker is President Julio Frenk, a global public health expert who was former minister of health of Mexico. Robert Yates, executive director of the Chatham House Centre for Universal Health, will participate as moderator.

Felicia M. Knaul, director of the institute, will host the webinar. Knaul is an international health economist and an expert in Latin American health systems and social sectors.

“As a political health economist I am very keen to learn more from President Frenk about how different countries in the Americas are tackling COVID-19 and which health systems are proving most resilient and effective in dealing with the pandemic," Yates said. "It will also be interesting to discuss the broader economic and political consequences and whether this crisis might accelerate progress towards universal health coverage in the region.”

COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that has killed more than 72,000 across the globe. It has now hit most countries in Latin America, beginning in late February when Brazil confirmed its first case. That country remains the most affected by the virus, with more than 11,000 confirmed cases.

“The spread of coronavirus throughout the Americas only exacerbates the existing healthcare disparities across and within countries, where we witness tragic situations in which essential medicines such as off-patent morphine for breathlessness, equipment, and services are severely lacking,” Knaul said. “Evidence-based, systemic policy making is crucial to flatten all the curves—health, economic and educational—to save lives and livelihoods.”

In total, the region has reported 33,000 infected cases, according to Statista, a portal for statistics derived from market and opinion research institutes. Countries like Chile and Colombia have closed their borders to restrict the number of travelers.

“Pandemics bring our global interconnectedness into clear focus,” Frenk said. “As we face COVID-19 in this hemisphere and around the world, we must cooperate across governments and across borders to save lives.”

The webinar will focus on how health and economic systems can better respond individually and as a region to flatten the curve, and on what is being learned from high-income countries where the virus has spread rapidly and caused tens of thousands of deaths. 

Participants are invited to register in advance of the webinar at: https://miami.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fEwjvfkISRaAdB9PD-mERg

Those who register will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar.

Participants are encouraged to submit their questions in advance of the event by using the form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=cksUKjny1EKMDm8PF8SOM7ua0mM7rGRBp__WnTAPotNURFFNTTEySjdFRDNHMzZMNjJZTE9ZTjlCVC4u