Nassau, Bahamas. December 16, 2025. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)’s Regional Tourism and Health Program (THP) has strengthened national capacity for pandemic preparedness, prevention and response (PPR) and healthier, safer tourism (HST) in The Bahamas, one of the Caribbean’s most frequented travel destinations.
The successful three-day mission, held from December 8-10, 2025 and funded by the CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund Grant, facilitated high level strategic discussions and agreements for enhanced collaboration with the Minister of Health and Wellness , the Honourable Dr. Michael Darville and his team, as well as Mrs. Latia Duncombe, the Director General, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation and her team; the official implementation of the Caribbean Vessel Surveillance System (CVSS); Advanced Food Safety and Certification training; revamping of hotel surveillance through the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) and the handover of a state-of-the-art, portable, Molbio machine and supplies to the National Public Health Laboratory for rapid PCR detection of pathogens of pandemic potential inclusive of those from the tourism sector. The mission was conducted by a five- member CARPHA delegation was led by Dr. Lisa Indar, CARPHA Executive Director (ED), together with Mr. Keston Daniel, Coordinator, Tourism and Health Program, Dr. Sastee Kissoondan, Senior Technical Officer in the office of the ED, Ms. Samantha Llanos, Epidemiologist, Visitor Based Surveillance, and Ms. Frieda Mohammed, Training Officer.
At the joint press conference, with the Ministry of health and Wellness (MOHW), Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MENR), the Honourable MOHW, Dr. Michael Darville expressed his deep appreciation to CARPHA and reaffirmed the Government’s full endorsement of the THP, indicating, “the THP is very important to the Bahamas which has been implemented since 2016. CARPHA has been guiding the Bahamas through COVID-19. Another tool that is important to us is Mass Gathering given the upcoming Junkanoo Festival. Through CARPHA, Bahamas is able to monitor the possibility of airborne and waterborne diseases and protect persons. I am a great advocate for CARPHA”.
Mrs. Duncombe, Director General, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investment and Aviation expressed commended CARPHA for advancing healthier safer tourism, and protecting the tourism sector during COVID 19, endorsed and agreement to advance the implementation of the THP. She committed to increasing the number of awarded tourism entities with the goal of making the Bahamas a healthier, safer tourism destination over the next six months.
Other key achievements for enhancing the country’s capacity for better response to public health threats were:
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Operationalisation, Implementation and Advancement of the CVSS: Through steadfast promotion and advocacy by Dr. Indar; Minister of Health, Dr. Pearl McMillan, the Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Phillip Swann, Director of Public Health, MOHW, they officially approved the operationalisation of the advanced digital CVSS system as at 10 December, 2025. Together, the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) and CVSS systems will allow for real time detection and response to public health risks linked to address both land based and cruise tourism, supporting early warning and response for potential outbreaks.
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Train-the-Trainer Advanced Food Safety and Certification ServSafe® course: Thirty-two persons from the MOHW, Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA), Department of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Services, and the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) and six tourism facilities participated. This course was designed to support national preparations for the peak tourism season as well as major cultural events, such as the Junkanoo and Goombay Summer festivals. The Bahamas is no equipped with advanced trained and internationally certified experts to reduce the risk of foodborne outbreaks.
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Distribution of the HST Award: The Bahamas celebrated its first formal physical HST Award to The Graycliff Hotel and Restaurant. This display serves as a visible symbol of commitment to implementing proactive health, safety, and environmental measures designed to protect both staff and guests from public health threats.
- Donation of the Molbio Workstation and Supplies to the National Public Health Laboratory: Dr Indar and the team visited the National Public Health Laboratory to present the Molbio Workstation and Supplies, that allows for rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing with a 2-hour turn-around-time. National diagnostic capacity, and rapid disease detection is now strengthened for more timely, directed public health response.
The Bahamas officially launched the THP in 2016 as one of the first six participating Member States, aiming to protect visitors and locals by addressing health, food safety, and environmental threats to tourism, enhancing visitor experience. CARPHA THP remains committed to strengthen the detection and management of travel related public health threats, while helping to safeguard the country’s reputation as a safe, competitive destination in The Bahamas. This mission, together with the donation of the laboratory equipment and supplies, was made possible through CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund Project, “Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (RG-T4387)”.
About CARPHA’s THP:
CARPHA’s THP is a multifaceted programme, that pioneer work for improving sustainable Caribbean tourism and health security, whilst engaging and collaborating with CARPHA Member States. The THP adopts a multisectoral approach for improving the resilience of the tourism industry and by extension, the health sector of each participating country through surveillance, response, guidelines, capacity building, standards, policy, advocacy and partnerships, and a travellers’ health award and app. The THP strengthens regional and national health systems and enhances the health of visitor and resident populations by seeking to address the health, safety, and environmental sanitation threats to tourism. The programme has built capacity and equipped countries with regional tools that supports preparedness and response to public health threats. https://carpha.org/THP/Background
About CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund Project:
CARPHA is the Executing Agency for its Pandemic Fund Project, with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the Implementing Entity. The goal of this Project, which spans from 2024 to 2026, is to Reduce the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR). The objective is to support the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic PPR surveillance and early warning systems, laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and at country levels. This will reduce the transboundary spread of infectious diseases and improve regional and global health security. CARPHA is the beneficiary of the PF project and CARPHA Member States are the participants. Learn more via CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund webpage.
