A five-man team today ends a week-long mission to the island in connection with the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR).
The team comprises representatives of the National Focal Point (NFP) of Canada, the United States and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). They will be joined by regional observers from the NFPs of Antigua & Barbuda and Saint Lucia.
The International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 is the international legal framework “to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with the level of public health risks while avoiding unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade”.
The objectives for this mission are to support Dominica in
- Establishing/strengthening mechanisms for collecting and disseminating information on public health risks including events that could potentially constitute public health emergencies of international concern, as well as other information provided by the WHO under the IHR.
- Updating standard operating procedures for the functioning of the IHR National Focal Point (NFP), based on the WHO guidelines, adapted to the national context.
- Facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experiences, sharing of best practices on the IHR NFP operation, including reporting procedures and international contact investigation.
The mission team was also expected to undertake the following activities:
– do a review of the development and use of special software that was developed by Brazil in collaboration with PAHO. Dominica along with Canada have been adapting the English version of the software.
– observe and participate in the weekly meeting of the Ministry of Health’s National Public Health Surveillance and Response Team (NPHSRT) which has been identified as a best practice in the region. There will be meetings to examine the operation of the Dominica NFP and to strengthen the standard operating procedures.
The team was also expected to meet with other high level officials including the Minister for Health, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Technical Officers to discuss possible areas of further collaboration with Canada, USA and PAHO to ensure that Dominica meets the obligations under the IHR ahead of June 15, 2016.
The International Health Regulations (2005) came into force on June 15, 2007. Dominica has been working towards meeting its obligations since 2005 and had made significant progress under the core competencies and capabilities required under the IHR (2005).
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