17 million Caribbean people to benefit from CARPHA and Mexico MOU

By Caribbean Medical News Staff
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry of health of the United Mexican States, through the Federal Commission for Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS). The goal of the MoU is to set up an apparatus for strengthening international cooperation in the health sector. It will also provide support for the establishment of the Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS), which will be hosted by CARPHA, and will benefit the people of the Caribbean region.

Making the proposal official, Mikel Arriola, head of Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) and Dr C James Hospedales, executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) signed the memorandum of understanding.

The MoU was legitimatized in the presence of PAHO representative in Mexico, Maureen Birmingham, and executive director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) of the foreign ministry, Juan Manuel Valle Pereña. This level of cooperation with the Caribbean is extraordinary and adds significant value to health policy in the region.

Some of the activities of the CRS include: supporting the expansion and rapid access to lower-cost generic medicines and strengthening the regulatory capacity of the Caribbean.

Dr Hospedales expressed thanks to the Mexican government for its support, and PAHO for its efforts, and stated that “this cooperation will help strengthen the Caribbean’s regulatory framework, remove entry barriers and facilitate access to medicines at a lower cost.”

The countries and territories that will benefit from the MoU include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, St Maarten, Aruba, Curacao and the BES islands; which when combined make up a contingent of 17.2 million people who stand to benefit.

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