The visit of PAHO officials

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Parent Category: Feb 2012

Category: Week end Feb 18th, 2012

Published on Monday, 20 February 2012 20:12

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Grenada paid host to some top officials from the Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation during the past week. Director of PAHO, Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, who is based at the organisation’s headquarters in Washington- D.C. visited to attend the summit of Caribbean Regional Managers of Health held on February 6 at the Grenada Grand Beach Resort in Grand Anse.

The main focus of the session was to get Grenada and the rest of the sub-region to formulate a corporate policy to collectively contribute to the decision and policymaking process. In an address to participants, Dr. Periago highlighted the importance and timeliness of the meeting, saying it is being held at a “transitional time’’ for the region and PAHO as an organization.

She also introduced Grenada’s Health Minister, Sen. Ann Peters, describing her as a champion of the regional health agenda. “Her attitude, discipline and commitment to results are very welcome and needed at this time for health institutions across the region,’’ said the PAHO Director.

Grenada, she said, is a very active member in guiding and orienting the policies and programmes of the organisation at the executive level. The St. George’s meeting was attended by several top healthcare managers and decision makers from across the region.

During her stay on the island, Dr. Periago was joined by other top regional health officials - Dr. Merle Lewis, head of the PAHO-Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Office, and Dr. Jorge Jenkins, from the PAHO- Venezuela, Aruba and Netherlands Antilles Office - to tour three of the 41 public healthcare facilities managed by the Grenada Government.

The visitors, accompanied by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Isaac Bhagwan, and other senior officials from the Grenadian Health Ministry, stopped off at the General Hospital in St. George’s where they looked at challenges facing the institution as well as its successes.

They reportedly expressed satisfaction with a number of Government plans including a proposal to build a new hospital and plans for starting the General Hospital’s 2nd phase later this year, which they believe will address most - if not all - of the challenges facing the island’s health sector.

Despite the negative impact the global financial crisis continues to have on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) like Grenada, the PAHO/WHO representatives were impressed with the programmes and level of services offered by the local Health Ministry. The officials also visited the Princess Alice Hospital in St. Andrew, and Richmond Home for the Elderly in St. George’s, where significant progress was reported in the areas of healthcare delivery, management, privacy and safety, and in care for the elderly.

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