PM Roosevelt Skerrit virtually participates in 6th special OECS meeting

Chairman of Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Prime Minister of Commonwealth of Dominica Dr Roosevelt Skerrit participated in the 6th Special Meeting on Friday.

Saturday, 20th March 2021

Chairman of Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Prime Minister of Commonwealth of Dominica Dr Roosevelt Skerrit participated in the 6th Special Meeting on Friday. Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also joined the virtual meeting.

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Also read: Children over the age of 3 can get Sinopharm vaccine: PM Roosevelt Skerrit The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa Etienne, and Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr Joy St. John, also joined the meeting to articulate significant public health matters related to battle the coronavirus pandemic. Dr Tedros revealed that he had convened on vaccine-producing nations to adopt ‘vaccine equity’, not as philanthropy but as a system to allow all countries to defeat the pandemic. The conference learned that only one nation in the region had gained any vaccines from the COVAX facility: Jamaica. Heads addressed the importance of having vaccine generation, and distribution ramped up as quickly as possible. Also read: Cruise-ships enquiring vaccine status of Dominica: PM Roosevelt Skerrit Dr. Tedros allowed to pay full consideration to small states’ concerns and to make the number of vaccines top preference for the WHO. He explained that 76% of global vaccine product had so far gone to only a few rich nations. Several Heads of Government aimed out that the bottlenecks in international vaccine collection had the effect of increasing the recovery process in their COVID-hit countries; and that the agreement of 600 million COVAX applications by June 2021 looked unreliable. It was pointed out that even if all the vaccine doses under COVAX were delivered, there would still be a ‘vaccine gap’ that would have to be filled. Dr Roosevelt Skerrit talked for more impartial access to vaccines and unlocking equipment for developing states. This Special Session gives the OECS Authority an occasion to examine paths to fulfilling the gap between vaccines obtainable through the COVAX Facility and bilateral sources and highlighting the health requirements of our Member States. Also read: Government is ensuring all Dominicans are equal: PM Roosevelt Skerrit Finding a timely resolution is crucial from a public health viewpoint but will also present the structure blocks to restore, replacement and reconstruct the economies across our region. Since the COVID-19 pandemic happened, the WHO has been a valuable companion to the OECS and to CARICOM, promoting access to African medical equipment platforms and brokering contributions of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to the Caribbean region. Shortly after his appointment to Director-General, Dr Tedros carried a conference with the Ministers of Health of the OECS in Geneva in 2018 to recognise the health sector difficulties of the country. In that same year in Grenada, the WHO continued the 3rd Global Conference on Climate Change and Health beside the OECS 5th Council of Health Ministers.