Crafting the region’s response to the next global health scare is the focus of a three-day workshop organised by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in collaboration with the United Kingdom Health Security Agency.
Speaking at the Regional Global Outbreak and Alert Response Training Workshop on Monday, Minister of Health, Dr. Lackram Bodoe, said a threat anywhere in the region is a threat everywhere.
He said the Ministry has already moved to put systems in place to address the local situation.
“An emergency response plan will be developed to anticipate and address a full spectrum of potential medical crises from natural hazards and oil spills to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and this is the commitment of the government I represent. In public health, proactiveness is invaluable. It is the difference between managing a contained incident and battling a full-scale emergency.”
The UK’s High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Jon Dean, said the training and evaluation workshop is being undertaken by a team from the United Kingdom.
“A partnership between the UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine builds on our long-standing cooperation with CARPHA. Together we have strengthened lab systems, advanced progress in AMR, supported field epidemiology training, and, most importantly, we’re working to ensure that the Caribbean has a skilled and ready workforce to respond to public health threats.”
Meanwhile, Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr. Lisa Indar, said the agency is already working to ensure the region can respond to the next health scare.
“CARPHA has developed Caribbean-tailored tools and interventions for real-time early warning and response to public health threats like outbreaks and epidemics, as traditional global tools developed for larger, more developed countries with well-established systems may not always apply to the Caribbean situation.”
The workshop aims to reduce the transborder spread of infectious diseases and improve regional and global health security.