The Ministry of Health is planning a nationwide initiative which puts prevention at the centre of healthcare.
The announcement came from Line Minister Dr. Lackram Bodoe during Monday’s opening ceremony of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Workshop entitled ‘One Health Multidisciplinary Workshop to Promote Integrated Surveillance for Foodborne Diseases and Zoonoses.’
Minister Bodoe said he will soon take an initiative to Cabinet called ‘Health in All Policies’, which seeks to create Inter-Ministerial collaboration to tackle public health challenges.
“What we recognised is that addressing the issues in the health sector, although it is primarily the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, it requires an intersectoral approach. We need to look at, for example, the social determinants of health, we have to look at the housing, we have to look at the social services, we have to look at food production, so there are many, many sectors.”
The CARPHA Workshop aims to reduce the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean through better prevention, preparedness, and response.
Minister Bodoe praised CARPHA, calling the workshop timely, and noted its relevance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, widely believed to have been a zoonotic infection transmitted from animals to humans.
He also emphasised this country’s commitment to regional collaboration, recognising its importance in strengthening public health systems.
“I think these workshops are very important in terms of getting not only a Caribbean perspective but creating very important partnerships going forward to address the problems not only in Trinidad and Tobago but the Caribbean of course, the region.”
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ravi Ratiram, emphasised that these workshops aim to build confidence among consumers about the safety of the food they purchase. He noted that farmers and fisherfolk rely on strong surveillance systems and enforcement against diseases.
“Marine health must be fully integrated into our surveillance and response system. It cannot be treated as secondary or separate. The discussions taking place here today will help us build that integration. When we improve our capacity to detect and respond across sectors, we improve our readiness at the national and regional levels.”
Over the next two days, more than 80 participants representing 11 CARPHA Member States and 18 agencies will engage in technical workshops designed to strengthen regional capacity in surveillance, early warning systems, and laboratory networks.