04/11/2024

CARPHA Champions Trust and Regional Collaboration in Health Security at World Health Summit, Berlin

By CARPHA

 On Sunday, October 13, 2024, Dr. Lisa Indar, Ad Interim Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and Project Director of the Pandemic Fund Project in the Caribbean, participated in a panel discussion at the World Health Summit on “Building Trust for Better Decision Making in Health Emergencies’, with representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) in the  Eastern Mediterranean, Europe and the WHO Health Emergencies Programme; the Africa and European Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the German Federal Ministry of Health.

 

Dr. Indar,  spoke to the critical need for trust, regional collaboration, and tailored approaches to enhance health emergency responses in the Caribbean region.  She shared CARPHA’s approach to public health, underscoring the importance of addressing the Caribbean’s unique context and fostering collaboration among diverse member states. She reflected, “For us,  the biggest aspect of building trust is dialogue with relevant stakeholders on their specific needs and developing Caribbean-specific interventions. One shoe doesn't fit all in the Caribbean; you have to look at what the specific needs of the region are and you also have to understand that an outbreak in one country or one member State means an outbreak in the Caribbean because of the interconnectedness. Getting our countries to trust us using the science and ..(handle) regional coordination and collaboration has been huge for us.”

 

CARPHA, as the regional public health agency serving 26 Member States in the Caribbean, addresses public health from a global and regional health security perspective, given the region’s high interconnectivity and tourism dependency. The Pandemic Fund Project, executed by CARPHA in the Caribbean, exemplifies the agency’s commitment to public health in the Region. As the first multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to health preparedness and pandemic prevention and response, the Pandemic Fund provides multiyear grants to strengthen the capacity of low and middle-income countries, helping them prepare for future pandemics through sustained resources and support. CARPHA is leveraging this initiative to create customised, country-specific interventions that build resilience across the Caribbean region.

 

During the summit, Dr. Indar also met with global health leaders, including Mandy Cohen, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). These discussions highlighted CARPHA’s role in international health security and reinforced the agency’s commitment to collaborative efforts for enhanced preparedness and response.

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