Bogota D.C., November 8, 2022. A new version of the VI Health Quality Forum advanced with a focus on Primary Health Care (PHC), where the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, with the support of USAID's Healthy Communities Program, put the keys for improvement of health care on the agenda.

The interim head of the Ministry of Health's Quality Office, Ana Milena Montes, pointed out that this event, which summoned the actors of the General System of Health Care Social Security, as well as academia, user associations and scientific societies, encourages the exchange of knowledge and successful experiences in PHC.

"We seek to strengthen the articulated and collaborative work of the institutions and define the path for the implementation of quality attributes. The objective and focus are always the people, and now there is an emphasis on Primary Health Care, since we started our first phase of implementation with our Preventive and Predictive Health Program," said Montes.

According to the head of quality, the work of Primary Health Care in the country "will allow differential health results in each of the regions." In this sense, she highlighted the work that different territorial entities have been doing in Primary Health Care for the past few years.

She then recognized that the challenges are enormous in the new territorial program, which is why these events take on special importance to review the quality attributes in the extramural teams that make PHC. "What is this quality that families and people receive in the extramural sphere and all the components in the new model?" she proposed as a question to be resolved among the participants in the event.

Therefore, it was defined that, in the current situation, coordinated work, self-assessment, monitoring, the generation of information for decision-making, evidence-based management, innovation and the participation of all actors are essential.

In turn, Miguel Pulido, director of the USAID's Healthy Communities Program, pointed out that "quality is to innovate. If today we are talking about a new health model, we are talking about innovating." And he added that quality must go hand in hand with people. He highlighted the importance of supporting the Ministry, at USAID, in the implementation of the Preventive and Predictive Health Program.

For her part, the director of provision of services and primary health care of the Ministry, Libia Forero, explained that Colombia already has remarkable strategies in PHC, with which the country has gained ground in the implementation of the new model. "Some territorial entities, with the support of organizations, have carried out pilots. So, I consider that there is a path traveled that is worth rescuing," she pointed out.