The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa F. Etienne, paid an official visit to Grenada between the 9th and 10th June 2016. During her visit she held bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister Dr the Rt Hon Keith Mitchell where they discussed the importance of prevention and management of non-communicable diseases and how the Caribbean countries can create an enabling environment to make the healthy choices the easy choices. They also discussed the importance of an all of society approach to the prevention on non-communicable diseases and how all sectors of society should be involved in ensuring that prevention starts from early on in life.
Grenada, June 11, 2016 (PAHO/WHO)- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa F. Etienne, paid an official visit to Grenada between the 9th and 10th June 2016. During her visit she held bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister Dr the Rt Hon Keith Mitchell where they discussed the importance of prevention and management of non-communicable diseases and how the Caribbean countries can create an enabling environment to make the healthy choices the easy choices. They also discussed the importance of an all of society approach to the prevention on non-communicable diseases and how all sectors of society should be involved in ensuring that prevention starts from early on in life.
During a meeting with Minister of Health, Hon Nickolas Steele, the PAHO Director discussed the issues of sustainable health financing, as well as the current Zika outbreak in the Americas. Minister Steele thanked Dr Etienne for the excellent collaboration that exists between PAHO and Grenada and reiterated the importance of sound technical cooperation that is provided by all the levels of the organization. On her part Dr Etienne thanked Minister Steele for his active participation in the governing bodies of both PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) with his recent participation as a member of the 10th session of the PAHO subcommittee on program, budget and administration as well as his co-chairing of committee A during the World Health Assembly that just concluded in Geneva. She stated that this commitment by Grenada, as well as the high execution rate of the Biennial Work Program, shows that the Government of Grenada not only appreciates the technical support from PAHO but is also committed to its continued success as an organization.
Other meetings during the visit included one with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr the Hon Clarice Modest-Curwen who is not only a public health physician but also carried the health portfolio in recent years.
During her stay in Grenada, Dr Etienne also took the opportunity to visit St Georges University which houses a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre and visited Princess Alice hospital which has been designated as one of the health facilities to be retrofitted to become a SMART facility. Dr Etienne also held a meeting with the senior staff members of the Ministry of Health where she had the opportunity to share the PAHO vision as well as hear from the managers their concerns and views on the technical cooperation that PAHO provides to Grenada.
Dr Etienne also held a town hall meeting on Zika which was very well attended and those present were not only given an overview of the situation by the PAHO Director but also could ask questions to the PAHO incident manager and the CARPHA representatives who were both linked virtually to the meeting. Before leaving Grenada Dr Etienne and Minister Steele held a press conference where the media had the opportunity to hear the Directors impressions on the visit and also ask questions relating to the current health priorities of the country.
Links
— "Health is wealth" poem performed during PAHO Director's official visit
