Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has commended the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha) for its initiative in calling a meeting to plan for regional health security (RHS). He said it will assist in developing “muscle memory” in dealing with further public health threats and emergencies in the future.
“(Carpha executive director) Dr Joy St John and her team performed magnificently under covid19. We must now learn the lesson as we move forward in this quest to protect our publics. The most important development emerging out of Carpha’s RHS consultations is that of regional consensus. It is important. Members of Caricom and regional health organisations all agreed that a comprehensive, all-encompassing and equitable and realistic plan must be developed.”
Speaking at the launch of the two day meeting at the Hilton Trinidad Hotel and Conference Centre on Tuesday, Carpha surveillance disease prevention and control division director Dr Lisa Indar said RHS encompasses the capacities required for member states to prepare for and respond to public health threats, issues, and concerns that transcend national boundaries and potentially impact on economic stability, trade, tourism, and access to goods and services in the region.
She said the objectives of the meeting were to update member states and partners on advancements that would contribute to the RHS pathway and to conduct a mapping exercise to coordinate Carpha member states and agencies’ priorities, funding, gaps/limitations and coordination for informing a development of a comprehensive RHS pathway, and would be comprised of chief medical officers, agencies, and partners.
Centres for Disease Control global health security and emergency response and recovery branch team lead Dr Richard Garfield said he admired the region not only for its knowledge of its people, but also a coordinating unit to manage emergencies.
He noted that the region was one of 18 applications approved for a grant from the pandemic fund, out of 157 applications. He said for the next five years, there will be support for developing systems, and this region was uniquely primed to use these resources.
“It requires an administrative skill and coordination we haven’t ever had, and we at the CDC are going to have to get better at it. At the CDC you may think we know, but we don't know what we're doing, we don't know how much money we have. In the decisions made to avoid shutdowns a few months ago, we lost a quarter of our funding overnight that we didn’t even realise was related to that. Everyone has to develop the operative skill in budgeting and administration and to be ready for changes we can’t anticipate if we’re going to use these resources well.”
Garfield commended the region for its ability to communicate with its population.
“As an external agency assisting you with technical and financial support, what we can do is help you to build capacity, which means the physical infrastructure, the training, and the employment of staff to be able to do things. We learned from covid19
