Concerned that the Caribbean and Latin America should become enlightened by the sobering experience of the still raging coronavirus pandemic and the devastating socio-economic impact which it continues to have on the hemisphere, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Alicia Barcena has used the forum of the recent XXI Meeting of Foreign Ministers of CELAC to urge that the region become an actor in the development and production of new vaccines as part of its wider regional health strategy.
The call came against the backdrop of the highly anticipated unfolding of a CELAC-driven Comprehensive Plan for Health Self-Sufficiency, a blueprint being developed by ECLAC at the request of CELAC for strengthening the production and distribution of medicines, particularly vaccines in countries in the region and for reducing external dependence.