Heads of Government, Health, Foreign Affairs Ministers for CARICOM Special Summit
The Seventeenth Special Meeting of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convenes at 4pm today at the Diplomatic Centre, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The special session will discuss the Community’s preparedness for the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as well as the responses to the Chikungunya Virus.
The Meeting will be hosted by the Hon Kamla Persad- Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and will be chaired by the Hon. Gaston Browne, Chairman of the Community and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Also confirmed to attend the meeting which begins at 4pm at the Diplomatic Centre, are the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Health in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet; Dr. the Hon Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Dr. the Hon Kenny Anthony, Prime Minster of Saint Lucia; the Hon. Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados; and the Hon. Donaldson Romeo, Premier of Montserrat. Guyana will be represented by the Hon. Samuel Hinds, Prime Minister.
The Hon. Frederick Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs will represent the Bahamas. Also attending the Meeting are the Hon. Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Health of Antigua and Barbuda, the Hon Dr. Perry Gomez, Minster of Health of The Bahamas, the Hon. John Boyce, M.P., Minister of Health of Barbados, the Hon. Clarice Modeste-Cuwen, Minister of Health of Grenada and Hon. Clayton Burgin, Minister of Health of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and H.E. Michel Eduard Blokland, Minister of Health of Suriname.
CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque leads a delegation that includes Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, Dr. Douglas Slater, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Secretary-General, Ms. Glenda Itiaba, and Programme Manager, Health Sector Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr, Rudolph Cummings.
While Member States have begun taking action against Ebola, the Community’s responses to the diseases are being led by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).