St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—Top federal health officials from across St. Kitts join colleagues and stakeholders from across the Americas to discuss critical issues impacting the health sector across the hemisphere.
The week-long event being held at the Pan American Health Organisation’s headquarters here in Washington, D.C., includes the 53rd meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development on Health.
The federation is being represented by permanent secretary within the Ministry of Health, Curtis Martin, and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Hazel Loss, along with regional leaders discussing key priorities shaping the future of healthcare across the region.
Speaking recently during a session at PAHO, Permanent Secretary Martin underscored the important role PAHO is playing in strengthening the health sector in small island states, such as St. Kitts and Nevis, where financing healthcare can be challenging.
“I express a profound appreciation to PAHO for its continued technical cooperation and unwavering support. As a small island developing state, our federation faces a unique constellation of vulnerabilities, including the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, emerging and re-emerging infectious threats, porous borders, dependency on tourism, climate change, and increasing disaster risk. In this context, PAHO’s partnership is not merely technical assistance; it is an essential investment in our national health security and resilience. We are particularly grateful for PAHO’s financial and technical support in developing our national strategic plan for health 2026-2030, which provides a strategic roadmap aligned with regional and global health priorities.”
Martin pointed to several areas where the federation has benefited from PAHO’s assistance.
“Allow me to highlight a few areas where this partnership has made a meaningful difference. During the Hantavirus cluster associated with a cruise ship in May, the timely sharing of information supported our risk assessment and preparedness efforts. Similarly, following the declaration of the Ebola outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, PAHO’s epidemiological updates inform our vigilance and response planning. Support for digitisation and the implementation of DHIS and the Global HEARTS initiative in strengthening the health information system and our capacity for disease prevention, early detection, and management.”
PAHO is also partnering with St. Kitts and Nevis to address one of the major health challenges affecting the federation.
“Technical assistance in developing our national NCD action plan is in helping to shape a coordinated response to one of our most pressing public health challenges. Through the PAHO revolving fund, we continue to secure our national vaccine supply. PAHO has also supported the development of our national cervical cancer elimination strategy and our elimination of mother-to-child transmission report as we pursue revalidation. Through the pandemic funds, a comprehensive assessment of our public laboratories has identified critical gaps and opportunities to strengthen laboratory capacity.”
The meeting wraps up on Friday, October 02, 2026.
