Secretary Azar Attends G7 Health Ministerial Meeting and Participates in Bilateral Meetings
Today, May 16, 2019, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar participated in bilateral meetings with health ministers and attended the first day of the G7 Health Ministerial Meeting in Paris, France, as the head of the U.S. delegation.
First, Secretary Azar participated in a bilateral meeting with Agnès Buzyn, France’s Minister of Solidarity and Health, where they discussed the importance of vaccines and the need to work together towards global health security in the context of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They also discussed President Trump’s plan to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. At the conclusion of the meeting, Secretary Azar and Minister Buzyn discussed the U.S. government’s Antimicrobial Resistance Challenge.
In the afternoon at the G7 Health Ministerial Meeting, ministers discussed strengthening primary healthcare, which addresses the needs of populations at every stage of people’s lives, to combat health inequalities and why a common operational culture of primary healthcare strengthening is now needed. During the meeting, Secretary Azar noted that the best thing for improving health inequalities is employment and economic opportunity. He praised President Trump’s leadership to secure new jobs for Americans and the U.S. unemployment rate which is the lowest in 50 years and the lowest rate unemployment ever recorded for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans.
Secretary Azar also detailed the U.S. approach towards innovative, integrated, patient-centered, value-based, and multi-stakeholder approaches to primary healthcare. As an example of what the U.S. is doing to reform primary care in the U.S., he detailed the innovative Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Primary Cares Initiative, a new set of payment models that will transform primary care to deliver better value for patients throughout the healthcare system.
Later in the afternoon, Secretary Azar participated in a bilateral meeting with Giulia Grillo, Italy’s Minister of Health, where they discussed the importance of combatting antimicrobial resistance and the need for greater donor coordination in response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Additionally, they discussed the importance of vaccinations to prevent the spread of illnesses, such as measles, and they also discussed the U.S. government’s Antimicrobial Resistance Challenge.
Next, Secretary Azar met with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. They discussed the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC and the need for continued adaptation to the challenging situations on the ground. They will next meet in Geneva, Switzerland at the 72nd World Health Assembly.
Additional information regarding Secretary Azar’s meetings and schedule will be forthcoming in news releases and social media posts.
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