Partners In Health (SES) participated in an international symposium in memory of Dr. Paul Farmer, a world leader in global health and co-founder of Partners In Health, whose legacy continues to mark the work for equity and human rights in health. The meeting will bring together specialists from different countries to reflect on the current challenges in healthcare, with special emphasis on mental health and community approaches.
On behalf of SES, Carmen Contreras, head of the Mental Health Program at Partners In Health, will be part of this international dialogue space that puts at the center the need to respond to the structural inequalities that affect access to healthcare. The participation of Socios En Salud reaffirms its commitment to a vision of health as a human right and to models that integrate clinical care, community work and social justice.
The symposium, held in honor of Dr. Paul Farmer, will address how to take mental health care beyond hospitals and clinics, recognizing the impact of stigma, poverty and exclusion on people’s well-being. Within this framework, the SES experience will make visible the work that is being developed in Peru to strengthen mental health from a community and territorial approach.
Mental health, community accompaniment and human rights
From her role in SES, Carmen Contreras will share the importance of building mental health responses based on local realities and the voices of communities. This approach is in direct dialogue with the thinking of Paul Farmer, who advocated that health care should accompany people in their contexts and address the social causes of illness.
The presence of Socios En Salud at this international symposium also reflects its articulated work with the public health system, aimed at strengthening capacities, reducing access gaps and promoting dignified and respectful care. Mental health, understood as a central component of the right to health, requires sustained interventions that integrate the clinical with the social.
Participating in global spaces such as this one allows SES to exchange learning, make local experiences visible and reaffirm its commitment to people-centered public health. In memory of Paul Farmer, Partners In Health continues to promote a practice that understands health not only as medical care, but also as a concrete expression of equity and human rights.
