ORANJESTAD - During the four-country consultations in Aruba, agreements were made about pandemic preparedness in the Caribbean region, cooperation in crisis situations such as hurricanes, prevention policy such as combating obesity and also better hospital cooperation, so that the quality of care can be improved and, for example, nursing staff can be trained together. The experiences during the corona pandemic have made clear how important good cooperation is for improving health care for residents of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
Representatives of the Ministries of Health of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands and representatives from the healthcare field met in Aruba last week for the fourth four-country meeting. The countries note that there are similarities and differences in the health care systems and that there are more opportunities for cooperation to strengthen health care within the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The following topics were discussed: implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR), pandemic preparedness, cooperation during crises and disasters, mental health legislation, prevention, quality frameworks and accreditation of healthcare professionals and institutions, healthcare training and education and cooperation between hospitals in the form of the Dutch Caribbean Hospital Alliance (DCHA).
Various actions were formulated during the four-country consultations and various working groups will be set up in the coming period to give substance to the agreements made. The agreements that will be further elaborated include: investing in a surveillance system for monitoring infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, collaborating on access to medicines and medical materials in preparation for pandemics and disasters in the region, exchanging knowledge about health-promoting interventions, setting up joint quality frameworks/systems and creating a pathway for students from the Caribbean to progress to medical specialization in the European Netherlands or CAS-BES.
In the context of the DCHA hospital collaboration, it will be possible to collaborate more intensively in other areas with a view to promoting efficiency, quality and sustainability of care for the region. Topics on which cooperation will be continued and expanded include joint purchasing, training and education, pandemic preparedness and efficient organization of hospital care on the islands.
Minister Oduber (Aruba), Minister Pietersz-Janga (Curaçao), Minister Ottley (Sint Maarten) and State Secretary Van Ooijen (Netherlands) look forward to the collaboration with confidence in the importance of safeguarding and making care for the inhabitants of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom more sustainable.