Caribbean News
CARPHA helps TCI Strengthen Tourism and Health Program (THP); Beaches, Pine Cay and The Sands at Grace Bay earn Awards
November 1, 2023 – The recent COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that a healthy host community with strong safeguards is among the first to recover from a health disruption. It also highlighted the need for tourism-specific health policies and programs. The exponential spread of COVID-19 was a consequence of travel that had the most devastating effect on modern tourism.
On Tuesday 10 October 2023, a team from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)’s Regional Tourism and
Health Program (THP), led by Dr. Lisa Indar, Director, Surveillance Disease Prevention and Control Division, engaged with the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourism and Health Steering Committee at the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Providenciales, in order to update and strengthen the TCIs Tourism and Health Program (THP). Simultaneously, the CARPHA lead for their Environmental Health Laboratory, visited the National Public Health Laboratory’s site in Grand Turk for a walk through to assess the feasibility of upgrading the laboratory to perform Foodborne Disease (FBD) and Waterborne Disease (WBD) testing locally.
This follow-up mission focused on strengthening visitor-based surveillance, registration of additional tourism entities, strengthening FDB surveillance and reviewing laboratory capacity.
A targeted Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Methodologies training session was conducted by the CARPHA team at Beaches TCI, where over 100 Beaches staff participated resulting in Beaches being awarded the Caribbean Travelers’ Health Assurance Stamp for Healthier Safer Tourism (HST).
The HST award was launched in November 2020 and is a measurable and verifiable traveler’s health assurance and recognition award for tourism entities that are implementing the recommended proactive health monitoring and safety measures. The HST Stamp is endorsed by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Awardees with the HST Stamp are eligible for the WTTC Safe Travels Stamp.
Pine Cay and The Sands at Grace Bay also received the HST award after meeting the criteria of consistently reporting into the THiS and having their staff trained in IPC methods.
The THP is one of CARPHA’s innovative programs that addresses health, food safety and environmental sanitation (HSE). Real-time, early warning and reaction surveillance systems, response, guidelines, capacity building, HSE standards, policy, advocacy, partnerships, and a travelers’ health award are solutions to the HSE threats affecting sustainable tourism in the Caribbean. The goal is to enhance the health, safety and security of citizens and visitors
while also contributing to the sustainability and resilience of Caribbean tourism and the economies of its states.
The TCI was the first Caribbean country to officially launch the THP on June 22nd, 2016, leading the way regionally for enhancing the health and safety of the tourism product. The TCI has recently been working with CARPHA to reinvigorate and strengthen its program following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the visit, Minister of Health and Human Services, Hon. Shaun Malcolm noted “It is important to adopt a multi-faceted cross-sector approach to provide real-time early warning and response, using the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS)”. He went on to say that “this multipronged approach stimulates a rapid and coordinated response to effectively manage and protect both the local population and the industry from any potential public health threats”.
The Minister of Tourism, Hon. Josephine Connolly expressed her excitement at the revitalization of the program, stating, “this real-time reporting system ensures the health and safety of visitors and front-line workers and by extension, our host community. We anticipate the further reengagement and enrollment of other accommodation and service providers. “
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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