Loading
  • Main Menu
Caribbean Public Health Agency
  • Login
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About
    • Role and Function
    • Structure and People
    • Government Orientation
    • Member States
    • FAQs
  • What We Do
    • Caribbean Regulatory System
    • Communicable Diseases
    • CR-FELTP
    • Data and Health Information
    • Environmental Health
    • Emergency Response
    • Laboratory Services
    • Medicines Quality Control
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Networks
    • Non-Communicable Diseases
    • Nutrition
    • Traveller's Health/THP
    • Vector Borne Diseases
  • Financial Statements
    • 2023 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2022 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2021 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2020 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2019 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2018 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2017 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2016 Audited Financial Statements
  • More
    • CARPHA Foundation
    • CARPHA Projects
    • Digital Library
    • Forum
    • Health Days
    • Internship
      • Call for Interns - Virtual Internship Programme
    • Media
    • Publications and Databases
    • Partner With Us
    • Webinars
    • Work With Us
  • Contact Us
English
EnglishSpanishFrenchDutch
Caribbean Public Health Agency
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About
    • Role and Function
    • Structure and People
    • Government Orientation
    • Member States
    • FAQs
  • What We Do
    • Caribbean Regulatory System
    • Communicable Diseases
    • CR-FELTP
    • Data and Health Information
    • Environmental Health
    • Emergency Response
    • Laboratory Services
    • Medicines Quality Control
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Networks
    • Non-Communicable Diseases
    • Nutrition
    • Traveller's Health/THP
    • Vector Borne Diseases
  • Financial Statements
    • 2023 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2022 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2021 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2020 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2019 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2018 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2017 Audited Financial Statements
    • 2016 Audited Financial Statements
  • More
    • CARPHA Foundation
    • CARPHA Projects
    • Digital Library
    • Forum
    • Health Days
    • Internship
      • Call for Interns - Virtual Internship Programme
    • Media
    • Publications and Databases
    • Partner With Us
    • Webinars
    • Work With Us
  • Contact Us

Public Health Relevance

Home
  • Orientation for Government Officials
  • Public Health Relevance
Welcome
Executive Management Team Governance Structure Strategic Priorities Inter-Governmental Agreement Caricom Mandates Member States
Public Health Relevance Departments Services Networks Resources

Public Health Relevance

A Return on Investment

Public Health is defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private communities and individuals”. It has a profound influence on the daily lives of people.

Public Health plays a pivotal role in our society. Recent endeavours to combat public health threats like the COVID-19 pandemic underscore its significance in safeguarding both financial resources and human lives. Public health strategies include public awareness campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles; research on the causes of health problems; the development of policies to address these concerns and to mitigate issues before they occur.

Investments in Public Health therefore transcend mere expenditure; they represent investments in the welfare of individuals and communities alike. Public Health's steadfast commitment to prevention yields a substantial return on investment by curbing the overall healthcare costs through averting diseases and fostering healthier lifestyles. In essence, Public Health serves as both a shield against health crises and a smart fiscal decision, ultimately saving both financial resources and precious lives.

Economic Value of CARPHA

It is estimated that CARPHA's work has the potential to avert staggering annual losses at US$253 million. A cost-benefit analysis spanning a three-year period revealed CARPHA's operations amounted to a modest US$33 million and the estimate of averted losses during the same period reached US$756 million. These findings support the soundness of investing in CARPHA. Notably, CARPHA's financing represented a mere fraction, less than 0.05%, of the region's income. With CARPHA contributing over 22 times its operational costs in averted losses, the rationale for investing in CARPHA emerged as exceptionally compelling. This substantial difference, in favour of averted losses, underscored the financial prudence of supporting CARPHA. This data are the findings of The Health Economics Unit, University of the West Indies study entitled “Estimating the Economic Value of the Public Health Coverage Provided by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA, December 2013)”.

Caribbean Cooperation in Health

The Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH) aims to achieve more efficient cooperation in common health services by developing and maintaining cost-effective and efficient systems. Each iteration of CCH has evolved with the changing times to meet the needs of CARICOM States. It has delivered significant health gains, such as a scaling up of the response to HIV. CCHIV, which spans 2016—2025, emphasizes multi-sectoral action and regional public goods (RPGs) to address common challenges in areas where a regional approach holds the best potential to add value to national efforts. The strategic priorities set by CCH guide CARPHA’s strategic planning.

These five strategic priorities have been identified in the document "CCHIV: Summary of the Regional Health Framework 2016-2025."

The following are priority RPGs to guide the implementation of CCHIV:

  • Strengthened legislative framework for health, including legal briefs and model legislation
  • Regional legislation for nutritional labelling
  • Regional approach to trade legislation and regulation in support of reducing childhood obesity
  • Caribbean Regulatory System for essential medicines
  • Regional partnership of health and tourism
  • Caribbean guaranteed minimum package of health services
  • Common health promotion campaigns
  • Common training programs for health and other personnel, including in partnerships and negotiation
  • Common clinical guidelines and auditing tools for national NCD programs
  • Regional data sharing and ethics policy
  • Regional health information systems policy
  • Regional strategy to stimulate private sector partnerships
  • Resource mobilization strategies for reaching non-traditional funders.

State of Public Health Report

In keeping with the functions of CARPHA under the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), an annual State of Public Health Report (SPHR) is to be produced. This document is intended to give guidance to CARPHA Member States (CMS) on health priorities and assist in planning and policy formulation to improve the status of health in CMS. It also serves as a guide for International Agencies and Partners for prioritisation of technical assistance, support and funding in the Region. Finally, it can serve as an advocacy tool for regional bodies.

Unlike other SPHRs around the world which focus on one country, the CARPHA report has the peculiarity of covering multiple countries with varying levels of development, population sizes as well as cultural and political characteristics. A strategic decision was made to produce topic-specific reports for a given period in order to maximise and highlight the public health priorities or issues with which member states are confronted. The report is a balancing act between the broader regional perspective and national information.


The Inaugural SPHR was published in 2013.

The areas which the report covered over the years include:

  • Surveillance Vector-Borne Diseases, Childhood Obesity (2014-2016).
  • Climate Change and Health (2017-2018)
  • Healthy Ageing in the Caribbean (2019)
  • COVID-19 Pandemic in the region (In progress)

CARPHA HEAD OFFICE

  • 16-18 Jamaica Blvd,
    Federation Park,
    Port of Spain,
    Trinidad & Tobago
  • (+868) 299-0820
    (+868) 299-0895
    (+868) 622-4261
  • postmaster@carpha.org

CARPHA JAMAICA

  • Hope Gardens,
    Kingston 6,
    Jamaica
  • (+876) 977-3540
    (+876) 702-4235

CARPHA ST. LUCIA

  • P.O. Box 1111,
    The Morne, Castries,
    Saint Lucia
  • (+758) 452-2501
    (+758) 452-1087
  • (+758) 453-2721

Email Us

  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

Copyright 2022 by The Caribbean Public Health Agency

  • Back to top