Potential of strategic partnerships to form a Health Equity Network of the Americas (HENA)

Recognizing the persistence of health inequities in the Americas, an emerging Health Equity Network of the Americas (HENA) describes its approach to promoting health equity through intersectoral partnerships in a newly released issue of Ethnicity & Disease.

While health is a fundamental human right, health inequities persist across the Americas; they are systemic, avoidable and unjust, preventing individuals and communities from achieving their best health and developmental potential. The published article, The Transformative Potential of Strategic Partnerships to Form a Health Equity Network of the Americas, illustrates how HENA intends to address these health inequities by raising awareness of policies and programs to inform decision makers about actions they can take to put an end to these health inequities.

Unique from other networks promoting policy and action, HENA is establishing strategic partnerships that reach across traditional boundaries to overcome and move beyond segregation by discipline or focus area. "We are working to reconnect structural silos," says Dr. Michael Michael A. Rodriguez, founding director of HENA and a professor of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "We are proud to serve as a catalyst to bring together HENA members coming from civil society, academia and government agencies representing 26 nations in the Americas."

According to the article, HENA will work through these intersectoral partnerships to advance health equity by: 1) increasing knowledge of effective practices; 2) promoting adoption of effective policies and programs; 3) ensuring successful implementation of these policies and programs; 4) monitoring the progress; and 5) rewarding successes.

HENA focuses its policy work on three areas aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and PAHO's recommendations for improving health equity. HENA's priority areas are gender equality, racial/ethnic, Indigenous and immigrant populations, and universal health care. Health equity experts, advocates and institutions from North, Central and South America are invited to join HENA to strengthen the Network's impact in the region. Email HENA at healthequidadnetwork@mednet.ucla.edu