His Excellency Dr Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) visited the Caribbean Public Health Agency where he met with Dr C. James Hospedales and the Executive Management Team (EMT).
During the meeting with the EMT, Dr Gomes commended the work undertaken by the Agency, stating that “CARPHA is an institution that the ACP wishes to strongly support.”
The ACP through the European
Union, has committed 5million EURO to CARPHA to undertake a regional response to Zika. Dr Gomes provided an update on CARPHA’s proposal submission for Health System Strengthening (
HSS) for prevention and control of outbreaks of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases in the Caribbean, through education and research into new ways of reducing the threats of mosquitoes.
Dr Hospedales said, “Opportunities for collaboration between Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean and how we could share experiences and best practices were discussed. This is would be extremely beneficial as both regions are Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and share many common development challenges, and prone to hurricanes, climate change and noncommunicable diseases.”
The Secretary General expressed willingness to assist CARPHA in preparing a case study for the first 5 years of the Agency’s history as the principal institutional expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH), and a new international public health institution. The meeting also discussed enhancing the Agency’s capability to address health issues and support and an ACP-Haiti solidarity initiative.
During his visit, Dr Gomes presented Dr Hospedales with a copy of “To Georgetown, Sipopo and beyond: the African, Caribbean, Pacific Group at 40. The publication is a synopsis of the 40th anniversary of the ACP and chronicles founding of the Group. Dr Gomes saw first-hand the operations of the Agency’s reference laboratory, which anchors regional health
security, and detect and respond to outbreaks and epidemics.
Photo caption: Dr Gomes (center) on tour of CARPHA reference laboratory with Dr Hospedales (left) and Dr Brindle, Head of Laboratory Services and Networks