Guyana to host 62nd CARPHA meeting

Guyana will next month be the host of the Caribbean Public Health Agency’s 62nd annual Health Research Conference under the theme “Climate Change, the Environment and Human Health”.

The April 27-29 conference will provide an avenue to address the impacts of climate change and the environment on human health.  It will also offer discussions and networking opportunities for environmental health professionals, researchers, policymakers, students and others.

The Public Health Ministry and environmental specialists from the Region and further afield will examine a raft of issues in the two fields during the conference.

CARPHA’s Executive Director, Dr James Hospedales said last week that increases in vector-borne diseases, rising sea levels, prolonged periods of drought which pose a significant threat to human health and more frequent and intense storms and hurricanes in the Region are among some crucial agenda issues slated for the Georgetown conference.

The key regional annual research event is slated for the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Kingston where an expert panel on climate and health specialists is also expected to present their findings on the implications of rising sea levels, the impact of climate change on food security and health, as well as the significance of tobacco use among Caribbean youth.

The panel is also expected to unveil its ideas on other issues such as transgender health, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and the Zika Virus. The CARPHA conference is expected to “deliver a roadmap to chart the regional response to climate and health”, Dr Hospedales said.

The Conference “also provides a training ground for young researchers”, Hospedales explained, adding that environmental health professionals, researchers, senior health officers and clinicians will be among regional and international delegates to attend the Health Research Conference.

The Conference will host a series of events, including a grant writing and implementation; science workshop; a stakeholder policy dialogue; Training in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH); Training in indoor air quality, and a seminar on health diplomacy for Caribbean Chief Medical Officers (CMOs).

Guyana’s CMO, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, said the Public Health Ministry was fully supportive of the event as it would zero in on diseases that are of serious concern to the country.

He noted that Guyana’s tourism and health project, executed by CARPHA, will also be launched during the week of the Conference.  According to Persaud, the Agency will work with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) to include hoteliers, and tour operators into a system of surveillance, which will include training in food safety and regulatory mechanisms.

Persaud hopes locals in the health and environmental sectors would register and take full advantage of conference sessions.