Montevideo, 4 September 2023. Caribbean countries met to exchange experiences in maternal, newborn and sexual and reproductive health information, care and surveillance.
The event, which took place in Bridgetown, Barbados on 30-31 August, brought together representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Organised by the Department of Health Systems and Services through the Latin American Centre for Perinatology - Women's and Reproductive Health (CLP/WR) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), this meeting had the following objectives: to promote the exchange of experiences among the countries of the Caribbean region in maternal, reproductive and neonatal health; to disseminate best practices in information, care and surveillance in maternal, reproductive and neonatal health; to learn from experiences on the implementation of best practices in the countries of the region; to identify countries interested in strengthening and/or expanding some of these interventions, including the deployment of technologies to improve maternal and neonatal health.
The conference was structured along the following thematic axes: Perinatal Information System (SIP), perinatal health, sexual and reproductive health, and maternal health.
The director of CLP/WR, Suzanne Serruya, said: "It was very good to see the concrete results presented by the countries through the strategies they have been implementing. She also pointed out that there are clear opportunities for further progress through innovation and the use of technologies and welcomed the work being done in several Caribbean countries to improve and deepen the use of the SIP".
For her part, the PAHO representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean welcomed the event and said "We learned a lot and we know that we have a lot to do. We will continue to work to improve the health of women, adolescents and children born in the Caribbean".
