Major Caribbean public health Issues being addressed by CARPHA

By Michelle Nurse On Mar 24, 2015

The Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA is working to address the most prominent health issues within public health in the Caribbean. At a recent executive board meeting held by Heads of CARPHA, several of these problem areas were discussed including local management of diseases.

Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr. C James Hospedales explained that collaboration among all sectors is critical in the management of diseases affecting the region such as Chikungunya and Dengue.

“The meeting recognized that it’s not just Government alone or people alone who need to work together.”

[su_box title=”The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)” style=”soft” box_color=”#54c0f0″]The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is the new single regional public health agency for the Caribbean. It was legally established in July 2011 by an Inter-governmental Agreement signed by Caribbean Member States and began operation in January 2013. The Agency rationalises public health arrangements in the Region by combining the functions of five Caribbean Regional Health Institutions (RHIs) into a single agency. They are: The Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI); The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC); The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI); The Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC); The Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL) CARPHA brings these RHIs together as one strong force under a public health umbrella where issues requiring a regional response can be addressed.[/su_box]