Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, has commended and thanked the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the continuous assistance it has provided to Barbados over the years.
In addition, Mr. Symmonds congratulated the new Director of PAHO, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr., on his five-year tenure, which started February 1, 2023. The Minister made the comments on Monday, during a courtesy call, at the Ministry’s Culloden Road location.
Dr. Da Silva Jr. is on the island to participate in the Ministerial Conference on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health, being hosted by the WHO, PAHO and the Government of Barbados, from June 13 to 16.
In discussing the upcoming health conference and ways to fight NCDs, the Foreign Affairs Minister shared that Government, in its effort to help encourage a healthy lifestyle that includes a diet consisting of eating more vegetables and fruits, is trying to create a connection between healthy lifestyles, the agricultural sector and regional trade. He highlighted the current partnership involving Guyana, and Brazil, to some extent.
“We are trying to enter into an arrangement, we’ve already gotten to a place with Guyana, where we will move a lot of the agricultural produce…, – fruits, vegetables, etcetera – and get them into Barbados by air. Then we [will] do the packaging and blast freezing and so on, where necessary, and distribute across the Caribbean…. And we hope that by doing that, we make fruits and vegetables, in particular, a lot more readily accessible and more easily affordable,” Mr. Symmonds explained.
The PAHO Director acknowledged the “very important role” that Barbados’ leadership has played in highlighting many important topics on the international scene including anti-microbial resistance, climate change, and NCDs.
To this end, he stressed the importance of all countries in the Americas engaging in the debates around the future pandemic instrument.
Dr. Da Silva Jr. said he looked forward to “continued collaboration with Barbados, and the Caribbean as a whole, to rebuild stronger, more resilient health care systems”.
The two officials also discussed primary health care; a multisector approach to encouraging healthy lifestyles; ways to deal with mental health issues; front-of-label packaging, and pharmaceutical and vaccine production.
Also present at the courtesy call were: acting Permanent Secretary, Joy-Ann Skinner; Senior Foreign Service Officer, Tyrone Brathwaite; Foreign Service Officer II, LaToya Archer; PAHO/World Health Organization Representative to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, Dr. Amalia Del Riego Abreu; and PAHO’s Director of Communication, Maria Amparo Lasso.
Barbados joined the Pan American Health Organization in 1967.