“The HeDPAC Initiative has emerged as an important opportunity for the global South to work together to further strengthen the healthcare services provided to the people of these regions. Championed by Her Excellency Mia Amor Mottley and His Excellency Paul Kawage, the CARICOM Secretariat acknowledges that it seeks to address common, high-priority issues with mutually beneficial solutions.”
Alison Drayton, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat
The Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly (WHA77) was convened in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 May to 1 June under the theme “All for Health, Health for All.” Ms Alison Drayton, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat, led the delegation to this year’s Assembly.
During her contribution at a special engagement held by the Health Development Platform between the African and Caribbean Regions (HeDPAC) on the margins of WHA77, the ASG highlighted substantial challenges affecting CARICOM Member States’ public health sectors.
These challenges included healthcare worker migration, the need for regional digitalisation of health information and the portability of health financing mechanisms, and the need to strengthen regional regulatory institutions and systems to monitor the quality and safety of medical products.
She also underscored the significance of the ongoing partnership between CARICOM and HeDPAC. “I am happy to report that the CARICOM Secretariat and HeDPAC are currently engaging in developing a Memorandum of Understanding that seeks to treat with critical issues in the three priority areas of addressing the Human Health Workforce, Resilient Health Systems, and the Local Manufacturing of Medical Products,” stated ASG Drayton.
Read the full speech below:
Health Development Platform between the African and Caribbean Regions (HeDPAC) WHA Dinner
28 May 2024
Geneva, Switzerland
Remarks for Ms. Alison Drayton, Assistant-Secretary General- Human and Social Development
- Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
- Dr. Haileyesus Getahun, Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat of the Health Development Platform between African and Caribbean Regions (HeDPAC)
- Honourable Ministers of Health
- H.E Ambassador Minata Samate Cessouma, African Union Commissioner of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development
- Ladies and Gentlemen
Good evening!
- The HeDPAC Initiative has emerged as an important opportunity for the global South to work together to further strengthen the healthcare services provided to the people of these regions. Championed by Her Excellency Mia Amor Mottley and His Excellency Paul Kawage, the CARICOM Secretariat acknowledges that it seeks to address common, high-priority issues with mutually beneficial solutions.
- First, CARICOM Member States continue to face the real challenge of healthcare worker migration, which limits the provision and expansion of essential healthcare services. The Caribbean loses not only the numbers of our healthcare workers but also the very real professional experience they bring. Through the HeDPAC partnership, we hope to exchange knowledge on effective strategies for the training, recruitment and retention of healthcare workers, and foster exchange programmes with African countries that may have a surplus, similar to those supported by the Government of the Republic of Cuba.
- Furthermore, as CARICOM continues to move towards ensuring the free movement of its people within the Region, the need for the regional digitalisation of health information and the portability of health financing mechanisms has emerged. Therefore, this is another area in which this partnership can yield fruitful solutions based on existing examples or the development of new and innovative solutions specific to our context.
- Finally, CARICOM Member States have prioritised building the capacity for local manufacturing of medical products following the experience of the inequitable distribution of vaccines and other pandemic-related products to the Region during the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, with increased manufacturing, there is a need to strengthen regional regulatory institutions and systems to monitor the quality and safety of medical products. Through this partnership, work can be done to build these capacities.
- In closing, I am happy to report that the CARICOM Secretariat and HeDPAC are currently engaging in developing a Memorandum of Understanding that seeks to address critical issues in the three priority areas of addressing the Human Health Workforce, Resilient Health Systems, and the Local Manufacturing of Medical Products.
- Once again, I wish to thank HeDPAC for extending the invitation to the CARICOM Secretariat to this important event. I wish you all a pleasant evening.
Thank you!
