CARPHA providing Hurricane Melissa response to Jamaica

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) says it has mobilised an immediate response to support Jamaica following the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa.

The hurricane brought catastrophic winds, flooding, and storm surges, resulting in power outages, severe infrastructure damage, and widespread displacement, particularly across St Elizabeth, St James, Trelawny, Manchester, Hanover, and Westmoreland.

CARPHA says two days after the hurricane its Executive Director Dr Lisa Indar joined a high-level CARICOM team comprising Elizabeth Riley, Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Daniel Best, President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); and Dr David Farrel, Head of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), which travelled to Jamaica for assessments and discussions with high level officials on relevant needs and response.

The team held meetings with sectoral leads, conducted field visits and on met with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and his team.

In alignment with CARICOM’s established protocols for disaster response, CDEMA leads the regional response and CARPHA supports as the health lead.

CARPHA is integral to a coordinated and harmonised regional response for Jamaica.

CARPHA’s multipronged response to date has included dispatching public health supplies to Jamaica, including sterile gloves, laboratory test kits, masks, and mosquito nets; engaging in high-level meetings; and conducting health-sector in-country disaster assessments.

It says it is currently organising a second set of public health supplies for Jamaica.

“Our hearts are with the families who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods, and with communities facing the difficult task of rebuilding,” said Indar.

She added, “The situation is dire and devastating, and CARPHA is committed to regional coordinated response action, because it is critical that we stand firm in solidarity with Jamaica for the long haul of recovery.”

Indar says CARPHA stands in full solidarity with Jamaica, and is committed to providing public health support through medical items, food, water, personal hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPEs), tarpaulins and foggers, provision of vector borne and other public health emergency response supplies for vector borne disease (VBD) prevention and control and immediate deployment of personnel for public health surveillance, laboratory testing, shelters, hospitals, mental health and trauma care, and other key recovery initiatives

The agency is also working closely with its regional and international partners to deploy a field hospital and mobile clinics to affected areas, and continues to coordinate with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness and CARICOM, and its regional and international partners for a coordinated regional response and the purchase of a wide range of essential public health supplies for the Ministry.

CARPHA’s coordinated response underscores the strength of Caribbean regional solidarity and the agency’s commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of the people of Jamaica.

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