CMOs urged to pursue innovative strategies

CARICOM Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) are being urged to identify a package of regional public health goods which the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) can offer to governments that would be less costly to them, than if the governments were to provide them individually.

The call has come from Barbados’ Minister of Health, John Boyce, while he addressed the CMOs at the start of their two-day meeting, which took place at the Hilton Hotel. Such an approach is necessary, he said, as the region is operating in an environment where finances are tight, and there is therefore a need for innovative tactics to be pursued.

Some of the participants attending the two-day meeting of the
Chief Medical Officers of the Caribbean Community, which
took place at the Hilton Hotel in Barbados.

The health minister has also gone a step farther, and suggested that a good example is the development of epidemiological studies that would be conducted on behalf of CARICOM Member States. He made that point as he referred to the relationship between his Ministry and the Chronic Disease Research Centre of the University of the West Indies, which hosts the Barbados National Registry on its behalf, a relationship that he says is mutually beneficial.

Referring to the theme of the meeting, ‘Improving Quality for Sustainable Health Outcomes’, Minister Boyce said that he is certain that it would serve the participants well as a beacon to lead them to the best possible solutions to address the myriad of challenges facing the region with respect to health care.

“As a policymaker there are some specific expectations which I have of this meeting and its outcomes. The establishment of CARPHA has ushered in a new era in the region with CARICOM Member States assuming full responsibility for CARPHA’s viability,” he added.

Turning his attention to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), he said that region has realised many notable achievements in the response to such diseases, among them the Declaration of Port of Spain in 2007, and the United Nations High Level Meeting on NCDs which was convened in 2011. He noted that on the heels of that meeting, the World Health Organisation completed and distributed a Global Monitoring Framework for checking and evaluating progress on the implementation of actions which have come about as a result of the political declaration made in 2011.

“However, much work remains to be done. I am calling on you, therefore, to identify some innovative ways for us to address the threat of the non-communicable diseases in light of the targets set out in the Global Monitoring Framework. These need to be considered within the context of national budgets, prices, tax measures and other policy and regulatory approaches,” the health minister noted.

Moreover, he said that consideration can be given to greater involvement of public sector entities, as well as those from the private sector and non-governmental organisations, as many of the determinants of health are beyond the control of the health sector alone. (JRT)