The meeting, held via video conference, was convened to discuss the status of the region’s health sector and its preparedness for IHR compliance.

​The OECS Commission’s special meeting of key decision makers in the health sector met with ministers for health yesterday, to discuss the status of member states on Ebola and other health matters.

The meeting was held via video conference, and discussed major issues such as the region’s readiness regarding compliance with International Health Regulations (IHR) and plans for the participation of OECS member states in the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May.

The meeting emphasized the importance of every member state of the OECS attending the World Health Assembly. The Commission has also offered to examine the possibility of vote by proxy should any OECS member state be unable to attend.

The session chaired by OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules, also discussed a template for OECS member states for the self-assessment of health facilities and service. This self-assessment is geared towards rationalizing the region’s health sector.

The idea is to establish and promote the OECS as the world’s best region for rehabilitation and recovery through centers of excellence in health services.

The Ministers present pledged their support for plans put forward by the OECS Commission to enhance the region’s health facilities and services through functional cooperation. Among them is a planned fact finding multi-faceted meeting in Martinique to discuss bilateral or multilateral cooperation in health services involving various stakeholders across the sector, regional cooperation, functional collaboration and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Martinique has already pledged its support in hosting the multi-faceted fact finding meeting.

This is the second of virtual meetings with OECS health ministers through the OECS Commission’s weekly online forum, which looks at the region’s capacity to prepare for and respond to major developments in the health sector.

Follow-up ministerial meetings are expected to take place on a quarterly basis.