The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and technical officers from the Ministry of Health met this week for a two-day meeting to discuss budgetary allocations for the improvement of health services in Saint Lucia over the next two years.
PAHO will provide financial support to the Ministry of Health to help boost the delivery of health services.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Merlene Fredericks said PAHO has been a consistent and reliable partner.
“We are pleased to be engaged in this meeting where we together are discussing our priorities for the upcoming biennium. We do value the relationship that we have with PAHO. We have a long standing relationship with the Pan American Health Organization and they have provided much needed assistance to us in various aspects of public health. So by the end of this meeting we hope to have a clear plan for the upcoming two years to strengthen various aspects with our health sector response.”
PAHO’s representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Godfrey Xuereb, identified pivotal areas where assistance and financial support will be required.
“We have five key areas that we have identified already with the Ministry of Health. The first is infectious disease and communicable disease which also includes the international health regulations. Second, is the prevention and management of non-communicable disease, which is a high priority both for PAHO and the government of Saint Lucia. Third, we have We have family and life course so that includes young children and all the way to aging. Fourth is the important area of health systems and information systems in health; and finally the preparedness for disasters both natural, as well as those that we are being faced with in the region like chikungunya, zika and others that are coming into the region from external sources.”
On the final day of the meeting, the PAHO team met with the Minister for Health and Wellness to discuss the outcome of the meeting and continued collaboration between PAHO and Saint Lucia.
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