PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) says regional countries must take adequate steps to prevent the transboundary spread of infectious diseases, describing it as a threat to regional and global health security.
The CARPHA said that it held a two-day conference here last week to discuss the devastating global impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other public health concerns, reiterating the necessity for regional and international health security to protect and improve health.
It said that Regional Health Security (RHS) encompasses the capacities required for the Caribbean to prepare for and respond to public health threats, risks, priority issues, and concerns that transcend national boundaries and potentially impact economic stability, trade, tourism, and access to goods and services in the region.
“RHS offers a coordinated approach which is especially crucial in the Caribbean as the region, like the Pacific and African small island developing states, is characterized by small, under-resourced populations and varying surveillance, laboratory, and human resource capacities.
“It is also highly interconnected with porous borders, heavily reliant on tourism, and susceptible to climate change and disasters,” CARPHA said, adding that this combination of factors significantly increases the region’s exposure and vulnerability to disease spread, enabling the rapid spread of highly transmissible infectious diseases.
Furthermore, the tropical climate and abundant competent vectors make the region particularly vulnerable to vector-borne disease outbreaks.
“Consequently, regional health security and prevention, preparedness, and response to public health emergencies need to be improved not only at the national levels but at the regional level, as functional regional capacities are greater than the sum of the capacities of individual countries for improving RHS in the Caribbean.”
CARPHA said that chief medical officers, other health representatives from its 21 member states, representatives from regional and international agencies, and three international developmental partners (IDPs) attended the RHS planning meeting here.
“The major outcomes of this meeting include the detailing and prioritizing member states’ current needs, increased awareness of CARPHA’s integrated surveillance and capacity building work, and strengthening partnerships. These elements will assist in developing the sustainable RHS Pathway in short order.”
CARPHA said the meeting follows the RHS meeting held in July last year, in which it developed an RHS framework and conducted consultations with 84 stakeholders.
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