OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules at the formal opening said the Caribbean had changed dramatically post Hurricane Maria and there were natural opportunities to collaborate to deliver better health outcomes across the OECS.

"We are meeting here in Martinique at this critical time and Martinique has deliberately been chosen for this meeting because your health system is the most sophisticated in the OECS and there are many lessons to be learned from your best practices....a lesson of Irma and Maria is that alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. 

"Our geographic proximity is both a common vulnerability but it also enables us to respond with neighborly urgency" said Dr. Jules.

Key agenda items being discussed include:

• OECS Member States and International Health Regulations
• Evaluation of OECS Member States Response to Non-Chronic Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
• Health Human Resource Sharing in the Eastern Caribbean
• Regional Health Information Strategy
• Health Services Cooperation in Martinique

Ministers and technical personnel discussed the annual Work Program of the OECS/Pharmaceutical Procurement Service and will also explore expanding the OECS/PPS product portfolio to include the pooled procurement of Laboratory supplies, particularly viral load reagents for monitoring People Living with HIV/AIDS.

The meeting also tabled the OECS/PPS Annual Report which confirms that the availability of medicines in OECS Member States is satisfactory and citizens have reliable access to essential medicines to sustain their health care.

The OECS commitment to solidarity in health will be formalized at the conclusion of the gathering with the Fort de France Declaration on Health.

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