Above: CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean Public Health Agency will formally launch operations in January, the organization announced this week.

Dr Carl Hospedales, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, has been named CARPHA’s new executive director, according to Jamaica Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson, the Chair of CARPHA’s Executive Board.

CARPHA is the consolidation of five regional health institutions: the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL) and the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI).

It has already received $2 million in funding from the European Union, along with $800,000 from the Public Health Agency of Canada and $200,000 from the United Kingdom.

It has also received two other grants: $2.5 million from Canada for epidemiology training, and $5 million from the US-based Centre for Disease Control and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

CARICOM Member States will make annual contributions to CARPHA’s operational budget.