Somos Salud aims to make Puerto Rico US health hub
A new effort to highlight Puerto Rico’s health and nutrition projects that could serve as models for federal public policy has been launched by the nonprofit Nutriendo PR.
The multi-sector alliance, “En Puerto Rico Somos Salud” (roughly “In Puerto Rico We Are Health”) will prepare a formal proposal to the federal Make America Healthy Again Commission, focusing on the island’s approaches to nutrition, preventive care and health technology, officials said.
The alliance includes entities and professionals from health care, agriculture, education, government and food industry sectors. It seeks to give visibility to Puerto Rico’s work in population health, chronic disease prevention and food-centered well-being.
“En Puerto Rico Somos Salud” arose from a forum held at the Puerto Rico Senate, co-sponsored by Nutriendo PR and the Senate Health Commission, which Puerto Rico Health Secretary Víctor Ramos attended.
The event brought together a hundred health-related organizations that presented ideas and initiatives that now form the basis of the coordinated effort.
“‘En Puerto Rico Somos Salud’ represents a paradigm shift in the way we engage with federal health initiatives,” said Ángela Díaz, executive director of Nutriendo PR.
“Puerto Rico is presenting itself as a source of solutions, functional models and real-world data that can contribute significantly to the national conversation on health transformation,” she said. “Our ecosystem provides a perfect setting to demonstrate what works in terms of prevention, nutrition and community health.”
The work of the alliance includes the creation of technical committees focused on seven strategic areas: population health and prevention; biotechnology and applied sciences; food security and functional nutrition; biodiversity, gastronomy and regenerative agriculture; transformation of the health care system; technology and digital health; and legislation and public policy. The committees include representation from science, health, agriculture, education, food industry, communities and technology.
“The business community recognizes that health transformation is both a social imperative and a catalyst for economic growth,” said Luis Pizarro, former president of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the initiative.
“Through ‘En PR Somos Salud,’ our goal is to demonstrate that Puerto Rico’s innovative approaches to preventive care and nutritional food security can reduce health care costs while stimulating growth in our food industry, such as agriculture, distribution and retail,” he said. “Closing nutrition gaps is smart public health policy that also makes deep economic sense.”
“Puerto Rico has achieved significant results in several health indicators despite our fiscal and structural challenges,” Díaz said. “Our childhood vaccination rates, cancer screening programs and chronic disease management approaches through Federally Qualified Health Centers have outpaced many U.S. states. By documenting and scaling these successes, we can offer valuable insights to the federal government and the MAHA Commission.”
Meetings have been scheduled or held with the secretaries of the departments of Education, Health, Family, Socioeconomic Development of the Family Administration (ADSEF, in Spanish) and Economic Development, as well as with private sector entities such as the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Food Marketing, Industry & Distribution (MIDA in Spanish), universities and medical research centers.
The multisectoral roundtable En Puerto Rico Somos Salud has the participation of entities such as the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, VOCES de Puerto Rico, the University of Puerto Rico, Ana G. Méndez University, Ponce Health Science University, MMM Foundation, Triple S Foundation, Network for the Rights of Children and Youth of Puerto Rico, American Cancer Society, Made in Puerto Rico Association, Open Spaces, PR Produce, Puerto Rico Restaurant Association (ASORE in Spanish) and Industry University Research Center Inc. (Induniv in Spanish).
“Puerto Rico has a lot to offer,” Díaz concluded. “‘En Puerto Rico Somos Salud’ is a platform to unite the different sectors related to health, from agriculture to nutrition and health care. We seek to demonstrate what is possible and strengthen our island’s participation in the creation of public policies with the goal of shaping the future of public health in the United States.”
