In the March issue of our newsletter, we would like to commend the work and active engagement of the individuals who define AHF in the healthcare space. Day by day, they advance our mission to promote increased access to quality healthcare and treatment through leadership, academic initiatives, medical programming, and awareness activities.

• Dr. Stephen Stefani, renowned Brazilian oncologist and a member of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research, has served our board of directors for years. He was recently featured in a News Feature for Nature Medicine discussing Precision Medicine. In this issue, the potential impact of precision cancer therapies in reducing financial toxicity was explored, with Stephani sharing his perspective on the dual role played by insurance companies operating their own hospitals and clinics. He points out that “these kinds of businesses are the perfect sponsors for de-escalation experiments. Lower doses of drugs that are usually administered in the hospital setting, such as intravenous infusions, could save these companies money and improve the treatment of patients.” The complete News Feature, written by Sofia Moutinho and already accessed by over 2,200 individuals, is available here.

• Dr. Valderílio Azevedo, President at the Society of Rheumatology in Paraná, and Dr. Enrique Teran, President at the Academy of Sciences in Ecuador, both members of the AHF board, participated in a workshop conducted by AHF focusing on Access for Biosimilars in Latin America.

• Dr. Mariana Rico, our Vice President and Regional Medical Director with a background in Public Health, recently participated in the Women in RARE Webinar in celebration of International Women’s Day 2024. During the event, led by Rare Revolution Magazine, she discussed her role in promoting Equitable Access to Healthcare in Latin America.

• Dick Salvatierra and Dr. Mariana Rico will be attending the ISPOR event, a meeting of global healthcare leaders focused on discussing and disseminating the latest information on health economics and outcomes research. At this event, we will be presenting two posters: one on the Patient Access Landscape for Rare Disease Medicines in Brazil, and the other on the Approach to Rare Disease Care in Latin America from a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective. Join us at the ISPOR conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia, from May 5–8. You can register here.

• The AHF team organized and hosted an open house in Bogotá, Colombia, aimed at engaging and fostering collaboration among key healthcare stakeholders, including Durhane Wong-Rieger, President at the Canadian Organization for Rare Diseases, and Diego Gil, President at ERCAL and Federación Colombiana de Enfermedades Raras (FECOER).

AHF UPDATES

• We are getting ready to kick off a project on Patient Empowerment in Multiple Myeloma. The project aims to facilitate a multi-stakeholder discussion and offer expert recommendations to improve patient participation in health technology assessment for multiple myeloma in Latin America.

• Another upcoming project focuses on the Value of Healthcare Innovation from a policy standpoint. AHF will convene key opinion leaders to develop recommendations aimed at shaping the regulatory environment for healthcare innovation, with a specific focus on the context of Latin America.

• In addition, we have been pursuing initiatives in Nuclear Medicine, Precision Medicine, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Rare Eye Diseases. Stay tuned for more updates on these endeavors.

• Our latest work in digital pathology, “Crossing the Andes: Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Pathology in Latin America,” has been approved for publication and will be available soon. We will make sure to share it with you as soon as it is live.

• We have also been assessing the interest of our corporate colleagues in participating in a corporate leadership alliance with AHF. This alliance offers enhanced visibility for your organization among Latin American policymakers and influencers. Membership in the AHF Leadership Alliance includes benefits such as networking opportunities, stakeholder engagement, live and virtual meetings, exposure on social media platforms, authorship opportunities for select publications, and more, all accessible through an annual membership fee. We would love to hear your thoughts, just write us a message here.