A planned regional public health agency appears on the verge of being legally established with five Caribbean countries signing the necessary documentation and others promising to follow suit soon.
St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada and St. Lucia have inked the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on the establishment of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
Other countries have pledged to join them in time for the 32nd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government set for June 30 – July 4 in St. Kitts.
At the 21st Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on Health, Ministers had noted that progress towards the establishment of this centre of excellence in public health had been affected by the challenges surrounding the completion of the IGA. Those challenges overcome, the region is expected to press ahead with establishing the CARPHA.
The regional public health agency is being established with the overarching purpose of drawing together and building on public health knowledge and expertise across the Caribbean in an effort to prevent duplication of effort and resources, and to facilitate a coordinated approach to public health issues, including management of the risk of disease outbreaks.
CARICOM Heads of Government approved the agency in March 2010.
CARPHA, to be based in Trinidad and Tobago, will replace and build on the work of five Regional Health Institutions (RHIs): the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), the Caribbean Environment Health Institute (CEHI), the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFHI), the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC) and the Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL). Arrangements are in place to complete the transition to the single agency by 2014.
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