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Dr. Joy St. John, Chief??Medical??Officer. (FP)??

Recently appointed Chairman of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Executive Board and Barbados’ Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Joy St. John, is confident that her new posting with the WHO will have significant benefits for Barbados and, by extension, Barbadians.

Speaking to the issue during a recently held press conference at the Ministry of Health, the CMO explained that while her position as Chairman of the Board was one which would be impartial, Barbados however, stood to gain much in the way of knowledge and technical assistance.??

One immediate benefit she noted related to the issue of strengthening procedures surrounding the way chemical and nuclear events were handled. "Next week [representatives from] Barbados, along with other countries in the region are going [to participate] in a special workshop where we are going to start to build our radio nuclear regulatory functions", she stated. She pointed out that this was an opportunity to get specific resources for Barbados in this area.????

Additionally, Dr. St. John explained that as a member of an expert group tasked with designing the targets which the WHO has to produce for the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases, that this country would be able to share as well as learn about best practices in that particular area.??

She also highlighted the fact that while the WHO was not a financial lending agency, it provided the opportunity to access expert knowledge in a number of health-related areas and could also facilitate a relationship with agencies which could fund and assist Barbados in developing a number of essential health services.

kim.ramsay-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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