I am pleased to address this gathering of representatives of CARICOM Institutions.

As Chair of the Steering Committee for the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), I feel a sense of accomplishment to be able to speak on behalf of this new enterprise. The signing of the Inter-Governmental Agreement at the 32nd Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government has conferred legal status, thereby making CARPHA a CARICOM Institution.

I would like to take this opportunity, as Chair of the CARPHA Steering Committee, and, Chair of COHSOD, to extend warmest congratulations to Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on his appointment as the seventh Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, and to offer my best wishes to him for a successful tenure. 

In his presentation to follow, Dr Jerome Walcott, Project Manager of the Interim Implementation Team will elaborate on the functions of his Team and on the issues involved in the implementation strategy for CARPHA.

As I reflect, however, it is true to say that the process toward the establishment of CARPHA has been a relatively long one. It has been anchored in the recommendations from a series of studies spanning over the past 12 -14 years. There have been much deliberations, hard negotiations and compromises. There have been the challenges of overcoming skepticism and developing a plan of action agreeable to stakeholders, including Heads of Governments, Ministers of Health, other health officials, development partners and most importantly, the regional health institutions that are directly affected. In the final analysis, the decision for CARPHA was based on a vision that responds to the essential principles enunciated in the Nassau Declaration (2001): the Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region. It is a tribute to this Community that CARPHA is the final link in the chain of actionable recommendations of which the Caribbean Cooperation in Health, the Pan Caribbean Partnerships against HIV/AIDS and the elements of the Port-of-Spain Declaration, Unite to stop Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, are critical components.

Now it’s time for action. The CARPHA Steering Committee, which has been in place since June, 2008, hands over to the CARPHA Executive Board on the 23 September, 2011 at its inaugural meeting to be held in Washington DC -  in the period just preceding the PAHO Directing Council. It will be my good fortune and honour, as Chair of COHSOD, to also preside over that landmark occasion of this new CARICOM Institution.

We plan for the Interim Implementation Team to give way to the Implementation Team, headed by an Executive Director, by early 2012. We plan to put in place a fully operational resource mobilization strategy and a CARPHA business plan by mid 2012. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is committed to hosting CARPHA, and hopefully to having the core facility ready by the end of 2014, when it is estimated that the public health functions of all the five Regional Health Institutions (RHIs) will be consolidated under one Agency. But let it be clear CARPHA is currently in effect. It is in transition, but it is in effect.

As CARPHA moves forward, it will inevitably seek the cooperation of its sister CARICOM Institutions and international partners. Already the Laboratory Sub Committee, chaired by Dr Jerome Walcott, has attracted expertise from the US Chronic Disease Control Centre, the UK Health Prevention Agency, the European Agency for Disease Prevention and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Our Social Marketing Strategy, led by the UK National Social Marketing Cooperation will be rolled out at the Executive Board Meeting in September and should hopefully provide lessons that may be found useful for other CARICOM Institutions.

The current Resource Mobilization efforts led by Dr Edward Greene who has been retained as special advisor to CARPHA, has made tremendous strides in attracting interests and support from a wide cross section of developing partners, including those in the tourism sector, shipping, the pharmaceutical industry, in addition to our traditional partners: in Canada, UK, France and the USA and the multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank and IDB. They were all engaged in the last meeting of the CARPHA Partners held in Washington DC in June 2011 which was addressed by Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, Acting CARICOM Secretary General, Dr Mirta Roses, Director of PAHO and Prime Minister Denzil Douglas. We owe a debt of gratitude to them for their demonstration of commitment to this endeavour.

As you will hear from the substantive presentation by Dr Walcott, CARPHA ushers in a new era in regional public health. We are optimistic. We agree with PM Douglas that "CARPHA is the quintessential example of functional cooperation."  We know that it will be one of the Centres of excellence within the CARICOM Regional Integration process. We foresee its positive impact on the economy and wellbeing of the Region. We hope that the new Secretary General and the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat would embrace CARPHA. To my certain knowledge, with your support it will become another international best practice of which we will all be proud. Colleagues and friends “let it be”.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org
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