Minister of Health & Wellness, the Honourable Dr. Michael R. Darville, led a team of technical officers from the Ministry, including Chief Medical Officer - Dr. Pearl McMillan, Acting Director of Public Health - Dr.Phillip Swann and Policy & Planning Unit Officer - Dr. Cherita Moxey to the Economic and Health Dialogue of the Americas (EHA) Meeting held at Melia Cairbe in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (March 10-11)and a visit to Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts (March 13).
The EHA meetings continue to serve as a platform for countries to foster collaboration and strengthenpublic health systems and safeguard economies. The EHA sessions were attended by Member States,as well as the U.S. Department of State, U.S.Bureau of Global Security, PAHO and the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank. Public health experiences and challenges intensified by the ongoing COVID-19pandemic were shared, resulting in a workplan for coordinated responses to current and future healthcrises.
EHA is structured into four workstreams led by countries within the region. The Bahamas was nominatedin 2023 at EHA to co-lead workstream 2, focusing on the "Prioritization of Health Sector Transformation."Utilizing the renewed Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF), this initiative aims to identify and addressprimary challenges facing the region's health landscape. The Bahamas is the only country in the Englishspeaking Caribbean that has completed the three rounds of evaluation related to the EPHF assessment.Building on this success, The Bahamas has been invited to continue its co-leadership role for the 2024workplan.
On March 13, the delegation meet with faculty and staff at the Harvard University Beth-Israel DeaconessMedical Centre’s Disaster Medicine Program to finalize arrangements for establishing a Centre ofExcellence in Disaster Medicine in The Bahamas. This marked the culmination of more than a year ofnegotiations initially arranged by Bahamian Emergency Medicine and Climate Change and Health Fellow,Dr. Latoya Storr. The Centre of Excellence aims to enhance local and regional disaster preparedness andresponse systems, reflecting the Ministry’s goal of centralizing the health sector’s preparedness efforts.Later that afternoon, the delegation initiated discussions on partnership opportunities between the Ministryand the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for training and continuing education for Ministry ofHealth & Wellness staff.
The delegation returned home on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
Minister of Health & Wellness, the Honourable Dr. Michael R. Darville, led a team of technical officers from
the Ministry, including Chief Medical Officer - Dr. Pearl McMillan, Acting Director of Public Health - Dr.
Phillip Swann and Policy & Planning Unit Officer - Dr. Cherita Moxey to the Economic and Health Dialogue
of the Americas (EHA) Meeting held at Melia Cairbe in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (March 10-11)
and a visit to Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts (March 13).
The EHA meetings continue to serve as a platform for countries to foster collaboration and strengthen
public health systems and safeguard economies. The EHA sessions were attended by Member States,
as well as the U.S. Department of State, U.S.Bureau of Global Security, PAHO and the Inter-American
Development Bank. Public health experiences and challenges intensified by the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic were shared, resulting in a workplan for coordinated responses to current and future health
crises.
EHA is structured into four workstreams led by countries within the region. The Bahamas was nominated
in 2023 at EHA to co-lead workstream 2, focusing on the "Prioritization of Health Sector Transformation."
Utilizing the renewed Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF), this initiative aims to identify and address
primary challenges facing the region's health landscape. The Bahamas is the only country in the Englishspeaking Caribbean that has completed the three rounds of evaluation related to the EPHF assessment.
Building on this success, The Bahamas has been invited to continue its co-leadership role for the 2024
workplan.
On March 13, the delegation meet with faculty and staff at the Harvard University Beth-Israel Deaconess
Medical Centre’s Disaster Medicine Program to finalize arrangements for establishing a Centre of
Excellence in Disaster Medicine in The Bahamas. This marked the culmination of more than a year of
negotiations initially arranged by Bahamian Emergency Medicine and Climate Change and Health Fellow,
Dr. Latoya Storr. The Centre of Excellence aims to enhance local and regional disaster preparedness and
response systems, reflecting the Ministry’s goal of centralizing the health sector’s preparedness efforts.
Later that afternoon, the delegation initiated discussions on partnership opportunities between the Ministry
and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for training and continuing education for Ministry of
Health & Wellness staff.
The delegation returned home on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
