Commonground
Senior Moderator
July 11, 2025
(Via CARPHA): The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has strengthened the Caribbean Region’s capacity to detect and respond to public health threats in a timely manner through a four-day Regional Multisectoral Workshop on Strengthening Emergency and Response (E&R) and Integrated Early Warning Systems (EWS), using CARPHA’s innovative EWS tools. The workshop was held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 8 to 11 July 2025, and brought together over 60 public health professionals from 11 Member States across the Caribbean.
Participants included national epidemiologists, surveillance officers, laboratory specialists, environmental health officers, emergency response coordinators, port health personnel, and representatives from ministries of health, tourism, and disaster management. The training focused on improving emergency coordination, enhancing surveillance capabilities, and strengthening countries’ ability to respond swiftly to public health threats.
The workshop was funded by CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund Project for Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean and the EU’s 11th European Development Fund Programme for Health Security Strengthening. Countries were trained in CARPHA’s Caribbean-tailored innovative tools for strengthening EWS, such as CARPHA’s enhanced DHIS-2 system, Timeliness Metrics Strategy, Tourism and Health Information System (THiS), and Mass Gathering Syndromic Surveillance System (MGSS).
A key focus of the training was the introduction of CARPHA’s Timeliness Metrics Strategy. This Caribbean-specific tool helps countries assess how quickly they move from detection to response during a public health event in a Caribbean small island developing, tourism-dependent setting. With its use, countries can identify delays and bottlenecks and improve national decision-making timelines to prevent rapid spread and large outbreaks.
Participants were introduced to the CARPHA digital surveillance tools used for early warning surveillance in the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases in different environments. The systems reviewed were the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) used in tourism accommodations, the Cruise Ship Vessel Sanitation Surveillance system (CVSS) on cruise ships, and the Mass Gathering Syndromic Surveillance System (MGSS), which tracks symptoms reported during large public events. All tools are tailored to the Caribbean context and support early detection of unusual health events before they escalate.
Continued: https://caricom.org/carpha-builds-r...-response-and-early-warning-systems-training/
(Via CARPHA): The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has strengthened the Caribbean Region’s capacity to detect and respond to public health threats in a timely manner through a four-day Regional Multisectoral Workshop on Strengthening Emergency and Response (E&R) and Integrated Early Warning Systems (EWS), using CARPHA’s innovative EWS tools. The workshop was held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 8 to 11 July 2025, and brought together over 60 public health professionals from 11 Member States across the Caribbean.
Participants included national epidemiologists, surveillance officers, laboratory specialists, environmental health officers, emergency response coordinators, port health personnel, and representatives from ministries of health, tourism, and disaster management. The training focused on improving emergency coordination, enhancing surveillance capabilities, and strengthening countries’ ability to respond swiftly to public health threats.
The workshop was funded by CARPHA’s Pandemic Fund Project for Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean and the EU’s 11th European Development Fund Programme for Health Security Strengthening. Countries were trained in CARPHA’s Caribbean-tailored innovative tools for strengthening EWS, such as CARPHA’s enhanced DHIS-2 system, Timeliness Metrics Strategy, Tourism and Health Information System (THiS), and Mass Gathering Syndromic Surveillance System (MGSS).
A key focus of the training was the introduction of CARPHA’s Timeliness Metrics Strategy. This Caribbean-specific tool helps countries assess how quickly they move from detection to response during a public health event in a Caribbean small island developing, tourism-dependent setting. With its use, countries can identify delays and bottlenecks and improve national decision-making timelines to prevent rapid spread and large outbreaks.
Participants were introduced to the CARPHA digital surveillance tools used for early warning surveillance in the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases in different environments. The systems reviewed were the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) used in tourism accommodations, the Cruise Ship Vessel Sanitation Surveillance system (CVSS) on cruise ships, and the Mass Gathering Syndromic Surveillance System (MGSS), which tracks symptoms reported during large public events. All tools are tailored to the Caribbean context and support early detection of unusual health events before they escalate.
Continued: https://caricom.org/carpha-builds-r...-response-and-early-warning-systems-training/