Grenada’s Health and Social Security Minister — Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen, on Monday, 20 May, chaired a high-level meeting of the Heads of Delegations of the Americas, at the start of the 66th World Health Assembly (WHA) currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland.
Grenada is currently the President of the 28th Pan-American Sanitary Conference. The meeting dealt with various matters including concerns regarding the World Health Organization (WHO) allocation of funds to the region, Non Communicable Diseases and Chronic Renal Disease.
Speaking with Dr. Modeste-Curwen via telephone on Wednesday, she indicated that she took the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Health of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Fuad Khan and his technical team, on important health matters for Grenada.
Dr. Modeste-Curwen said discussions were held regarding the possibility of Grenadians receiving medical care and attention in Trinidad and Tobago, that is not available in Grenada.
She said discussions were also centered around the hiring of some of our unemployed Grenadian nurses.
According to Dr. Modeste-Curwen, the meeting was a follow up to a recent discussion initiated by Prime Minister Dr. The Hon. Keith Mitchell with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, The Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The Grenadian Health Minister described the meeting as fruitful, adding that both Dr. Khan and herself were pleased with the discussions, and that the prospects are good on both issues. They have also agreed to follow-up on those discussions upon their immediate return to their respective Countries.
Meanwhile on Tuesday 21st May, Minister Modeste-Curwen met with the Minister for Health of Jamaica Dr. Fenton Ferguson and his delegation regarding assistance with post graduate studies for Grenadian nurses at the University of Technology in Jamaica (UTech).
Minister Modeste-Curwen says her Ministry is aggressively pursuing training options for staff, given the fact that it has a direct bearing on the quality of care offered.
The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body for the WHO, and it determines policies and directions for the organization and for global collaboration around areas of critical public health concern.
The 66th Assembly brings together hundreds of delegates from 194 WHO Member States.
