Last Updated on September 29, 2020, 6:28 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris announced via a Facebook post that Minister the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett would lead the TeamUnity health delegation for discussing the regional approach to COVID19 at the PAHO meeting.
Ministers of Health and other senior authorities from territories and countries would meet virtually from September 28-29, 2020 for addressing the critical health challenges which are being faced by the Region of the Americas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the 58th Directing Council of the PAHO.
The opening ceremony will be held on Monday, 28 September. The ceremony will be attended by the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, as well as PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne; the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno and the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro.
Daniel Salas and Alex Azar, Costa Rican Minister of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, would also be participating in the ceremony.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, will deliver a message at the ceremony. The opening ceremony of the Directing Council would start at 9:00 am EST (Washington D.C.), and it would be broadcast on Livestream.
Discussions would mainly focus on the response of the countries to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact that the COVID-19 has had on national health services and systems, which would be addressed in-depth on 29 September.
Implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) would also be discussed.
PAHO’s Director would be presenting her annual report for 2019, which would focus on the progress made in a range of technical cooperation actions and strategies.
The report also shows how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the health gains of the Region, and that these may be placed at risk for the future.
The participants in the Directing Council would also be discussing the health achievements of the region from 2014 to 2019, as a review of the strategic plan of the PAHO for those years.
The virtual debate would be broadcast live at the following link: https://www.paho.org/en/governing-bodies.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
