By the Caribbean Journal staff

Caribbean leaders are preparing to sign an agreement for the establishment of the Caribbean Public Health Agency on July 4, the agency, CARPHA, announced yesterday in Washington. “This new agency is a major step towards improving health for people in the Caribbean, and is a significant step in the region’s development,” said Dr Edward Greene, CARPHA special advisor and former assistant secretary general to CARICOM, in a statement. “For the first time the Caribbean will have a single voice to represent our region in health at the global level. It will help us realise the vision of the Nassau Declaration of 2001 — the health of the region, is the wealth of the region.”