March 2017 | Business View Caribbean

104 105 The Caribbean Public Health Agency n To provide strategic direction, in analyz- ing, defining, and responding to public health priorities of the Caribbean Community n To promote and develop measures for the prevention of disease in the Caribbean n To support the Caribbean Community in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies and threats n To support solidarity in health, as one of the principal pillars of functional cooperation in the Caribbean Community n To support the relevant objectives of the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH). CARPHA’s core funding is derived from country quota contributions from Caribbean Community Member States: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Turks and Caicos Islands; with addi- tional funding provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, The National Social Mar- keting Center, The European Union, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. C. James Hospedales executive director and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), plus some development banks. Its headquar- ters are in Trinidad with offices in Saint Lucia and Jamaica. The Executive Director of CAR- PHA is Dr. C. James Hospedales. Before coming to CARPHA, he was the Director of CAREC, and Head of the non-communicable disease (NCD) program at PAHO in Washington, D.C. Dr. Hospedales spoke recently with Business View Magazine about the Agency. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation: BVM: Dr. Hospedales, what are CARPHA’s major goals and what programs are in place to achieve them? Dr. Hospedales: “The major goals are aligned with public health functions that are similar around the world. First, we maintain vigilance; we monitor the health of the Region for any disease outbreak and what people are dying from, from year to year, and provide analysis of those trends and information. That’s a constant mission. Secondly, we’re much in-