Dr. James Hospedales, Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and senior technical officers will engage the media on Monday on issues related to Zika, including facts about the disease, tourism and health, and surveillance and ethical issues.

The Press Conference will be held at 9 am at CARPHA’s Headquarters at 16-18 Jamaica Boulevard, Federation Park, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Zika is a new mosquito-borne virus to the Region.   It arrived in the Americas in 2015 and has since spread to several Caribbean territories. While the disease is considered to be mild, recent occurrences suggest a possible link between Zika infection in pregnant women and birth defects. This has caused concern among health professional and the general public

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is the new single regional public health agency for the Caribbean. It was legally established in July 2011 by an Inter-governmental Agreement signed by Caribbean Member States and began operation in January 2013. The Agency rationalises public health arrangements in the Region by combining the functions of five Caribbean Regional Health Institutions (RHIs) into a single agency. They are: The Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI); The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC); The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI); The Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC); The Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL). CARPHA brings these RHIs together as one strong force under a public health umbrella where issues requiring a regional response can be addressed.