From hope to reality: How telehealth and strategic procurement are reshaping public health

Abstract

For decades, the promise of “Leaving no one behind” has been an aspirational goal in global health – an ideal enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and echoed in countless declarations (1). Yet, for millions across the Americas, geographic isolation, socioeconomic disparities, and systemic barriers have long rendered this vision unattainable. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed these inequities, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate the adoption of health innovations to protect existing achievements, rebuild priority programs, and ensure that all countries and all population groups are on track to achieve the SDGs for health. Today, however, hope is finally transforming into reality. The convergence of telehealth and the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) Regional Revolving Funds (RRFs) – a regional public good that has revolutionized access to vaccines, essential medicines, and health supplies (2) – marks a historic turning point. As a cornerstone of the PAHO Director’s Vision for health transformation, ensuring timely and equitable access to health innovations, telehealth is no longer just a tool for expansion but it is a necessity. Strengthening response capacity in primary health care (PHC), expanding access to underserved populations, and enhancing the quality of care, including mental health services, telehealth is actively reshaping healthcare delivery across the Americas (3). At the same time, PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds – which have proved their ability to mobilize health supplies at scale, respond to health emergencies such as COVID-19 and mpox, and advance disease elimination efforts – now offer an unprecedented opportunity to drive digital transformation in the context of the recently approved Roadmap for the Digital Transformation of the Health Sector in the Region of the Americas (4). With PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds now facilitating access to telehealth devices and kits at This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No modifications or commercial use of this article are permitted. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that PAHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the PAHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL. Open access logo and text by PLoS, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. an affordable price, the Americas stand at the forefront of a new model of technical cooperation, where regional collaboration, innovative financing, and digital health solutions intersect to make universal health coverage a tangible reality. This synergy is not just reducing health inequities but redefining the very nature of healthcare delivery [...]