Caricom reiterates call for collective action, innovation to retain healthcare workers

Ahead of the 47th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) scheduled to be held in Washington DC, United States of America (USA) from September 27 to 28. CARICOM has issued a call for a unified approach by health sector development stakeholders to retain Caribbean healthcare workers.
The need for collective action and innovation was highlighted by Officer in Charge, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Dominica and Chair of the Meeting of Officials for COHSOD, Dr. Andy St. Hilaire during a recent engagement.
Present was national health officials and representatives from regional institutions and bodies, including the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the Human Resources for Health Caribbean (HRH) Commission, Global Fund, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
During his address, Dr. Hilaire highlighted that the surge in migration among healthcare workers threatens the quality of care and jeopardises health outcomes for the People of the Caribbean Community.
His comments on the matter were related via a statement from the Caricom Secretariat.

“Coexisting with all the challenges we experience in the health sector is the chronic shortage of healthcare workers within the Caribbean, especially physicians, nurses and midwives. The migration of healthcare workers significantly impacts our health systems’ ability to provide quality and timely healthcare services. Therefore, policies to train and retain healthcare workers in the Region must be creative, robust and more responsive to the needs of our healthcare personnel,” stated Dr. Hilaire.
On this point, he encouraged robust discussions on the way forward and strongly advocated for the crucial role of collective action in tackling the issue.
“This meeting presents an excellent opportunity for us to provide our collective insight to address the challenges we face in assuring health for all people in the Region, and we should chart a course towards more integrated and effective approaches to achieving resilient and responsive health systems.” He highlighted that the diversity of expertise and perspectives from stakeholders at the meeting will help to achieve the necessary creativity and innovation to reach meaningful solutions,” he added.
The migration of healthcare workers policy brief will form a pivotal part of the discussions for CARICOM Ministers of Health attending the 47th Meeting of the COHSOD scheduled for 27-28 September 2024.
Other topics for discussion include the strengthening of the region’s healthcare systems to guard against and manage outbreaks of life-threatening diseases such as monkeypox, malaria and dengue, among others.