LAPA - Latin America Patients Academy

We Are LAPA

Our mission is to build the capacity of patient organization leaders throughout Latin America on public health policy and advocacy. We also facilitate better working relationships and strategic alliances between civil society and public health decision makers. We believe stronger alliances among all stakeholders can lead to stronger, more resilient, and more sustainable healthcare systems in the region.

Current Programming

Argentina

LAPA has been working in recent months on a public policy training program for 61 patient group leaders. In previous years, LAPA worked to generate evidence for effective advocacy with 22 patient advocacy leaders in 2020 and with 28 advocacy leaders in 2019. We were excited to see the recent publication on the importance of patient groups in Argentina (in Spanish).

Peru

LAPA worked in 2021 on a program for several patient advocates and their organizations to meet virtually with several of the presidential and congressional candidates (in the first half of the year). LAPA is currently planning the next steps for Peruvian patient groups to continue building coalitions, generating ideas and developing policy proposals to improve the healthcare system. Click here to learn more about this new Peruvian network of patient groups working together for better health (in Spanish).

Chile

At the end of October 2021 LAPA finished a training program in Chile with the participation of 32 patient advocacy groups for 10 sessions with a focus on strengthening organizational capacity and growth strategies.

Colombia

In October, LAPA began a collaboration to promote political dialogue with the presidential candidates and representatives of the legislature to occur in 2022. The program is being carried out with 8 leading health organizations and their leaders. The group is also working to establish links and generating work plans with the Seventh Commission in the legislature responsible for health issues.

For more information on these or other LAPA programs,
please contact info@lapaonline.org.

Awards for Advocacy Excellence in Argentina

Over the past three years, Argentina civil society patient groups have been an important priority for LAPA in collaboration with the Cámara Argentina de Especialidades Medicinales (CAEME) and the Federación Latinoamericana de la Industria Farmacéutica (FIFARMA).