Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, October 02, 2013: The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is pleased to announce the appointment of the Honourable Colin Riley, Minister of Health of Montserrat, as the new Chairman of its Executive Board of Directors.
Minister Riley expressed his great pleasure at being given a turn to make a contribution to strengthening and adapting the Region’s health systems to address the changing nature of public health. Minister Riley replaces Jamaica’s Minister of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson as CARPHA Chair and will serve from September 29, 2013 for a period of one (1) year.
Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr. C. James Hospedales, congratulated Dr. Ferguson on what he was able to achieve during his tenure on the Agency’s Board. He said Dr. Ferguson was instrumental in leading CARPHA to full operation and thanked him for the role he played in the strategic planning process, charting the way forward for CARPHA to 2025.
Dr. Hospedales added that the Board is looking forward to working with Minister Riley in his new role and is confident that he will successfully assist CARPHA in achieving its mandate to prevent disease, promote and protect health. Minister Riley is a trained urban planner and brings with him experience in finance and tourism. He will also take over the chairmanship of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) from Dr. Ferguson.
CARPHA was legally established in July 2011 by an inter-governmental agreement signed by Heads of the Caribbean Community Member States and began operations in January 2013.
The Agency is a merger of five (5) regional health institutions namely:
- The Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI)
- The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC)
- The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI)
- The Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC)
- Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL)