A high-level bilateral public health meeting convened in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, bringing together top health and government officials from the United States and the Dominican Republic to deepen collaborative ties across multiple critical health sectors.
The Dominican delegation, led by Vice President Raquel Peña and Public Health Minister Víctor Atallah, held talks with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The gathering was coordinated by U.S. Ambassador Leah Campos, and centered on advancing the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two nations, which lays out a framework for joint work across core public health areas. These priority areas include strengthening epidemiological surveillance systems, boosting national laboratory capacity, advancing digital transformation in healthcare, improving cross-border emergency response readiness, expanding population-level disease prevention programs, and securing stable access to affordable essential medicines.
During discussions, both sides aligned on their shared top public health priorities, with a focused review of the United States’ Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. The strategy, which the U.S. side outlined, centers on reducing the population burden of chronic diseases through targeted interventions that improve public nutrition, increase access to physical activity opportunities, advance metabolic health research, and integrate cutting-edge emerging technologies into prevention and care frameworks.
Officials also delved into opportunities to reinforce regional pharmaceutical supply chains, a key component of overall regional health security. Participants highlighted the Dominican Republic’s untapped potential to expand domestic manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and high-quality strategic generic medicines, a shift that would reduce regional dependence on distant supply chains and improve access to affordable medications across the Caribbean and broader Latin American region.
The talks covered a wide range of additional pressing health topics, including growing global and regional challenges around mental health service access, the rising prevalence of obesity, the growing burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases, cross-border public health emergency preparedness, the ethical integration of artificial intelligence into clinical and public health practices, the advancement of precision medicine, expanding joint scientific research partnerships, and establishing protocols for secure cross-border exchange of health data.
Closing the meeting, Vice President Peña reaffirmed the commitment of Dominican President Luis Abinader’s administration to growing and deepening the bilateral health partnership with the United States. Public Health Minister Atallah emphasized in his closing remarks that proactive disease prevention, continuous healthcare innovation, and sustained investment in scientific research are non-negotiable foundations for building more resilient, accessible health systems that can protect populations from current and future health threats.