The Minister of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs Hon. Moses Jn. Baptiste and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George attended the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference, 74th session of the regional committee of the WHO for the Americas in Washington DC, USA from September 26-30, 2022.
The conference discussed PAHO’s Program budget 2022-2023 and the preliminary report of the End of the biennium Assessment of the PAHO Budget 2020-2021.
The Director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa Etienne submitted the Quinquennial Report 2018-2022 and the report on Health in the Americas.
Several important technical and program matters were also discussed which included Mental Health policy, Policy on recovering progress towards the sustainable development goals with equity through action on the social determinants of health and intersectoral work, Policy on Integrated Care for improved health outcomes and a plan of action for Cervical Cancer.
During this conference, the COVID-19 Pandemic was discussed and Monkey Pox update on the region. The Saint Lucian delegation actively participated with numerous interventions by the Hon. Minister Moses Jn. Baptiste.
Given that this is the supreme governing authority of PAHO, a new Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau for the period 2023-2028 was elected on Wednesday September 28, 2022.
The Government of Saint Lucia and the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs welcomes and congratulates Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr. of Brazil on his successful election.
The Hon. Minister also got the opportunity during the conference to thank Dr. Carissa Etienne on behalf of Saint Lucia for her sterling leadership in public health during her 2 terms in office.
SOURCE: Ministry of Health. Headline photo: Dr. Carissa Etienne addresses conference
