(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) CARICOM Ministers of Health met during the 61st World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva 19-24 May, to discuss the strategies for implementing the Caribbean Regional Health Authority.

Based on a number of studies and reports completed by experts in the field over the past years, the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) in June 2007 recommended the establishment of an integrated regional health authority as a more efficient way of sharing resources and of carrying out the regional health functions.

The Conference of Heads of Government in Barbados July 2007 approved this recommendation and charged the Caribbean Community Secretariat and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to work towards the establishment of this regional mechanism.

The regional health institutions to be involved in the Authority are the Caribbean Epidemiological Research Centre (CAREC), the Caribbean Environmental Health Institution, (CEHI) The Caribbean Regional Drug Testing Laboratory (CRDTL), the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), and the Caribbean Health Research Centre (CHRC)

Ministers agreed to the convening of a stakeholders meeting on 30 June 2008 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to engage a wide cross section of professionals and practitioners as well as agencies and developing partners in the process.

Ministers of Health also agreed to hold a regional consultation with media workers on the contemporary health problems, successes and developments and to establish a partnership in approaches to public information and education with the general public and other special interests.

The follow up to the Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases in September 2007 which resulted in the Declaration of Port-of-Spain provides an opportunity for the collaboration between Health practitioners and the media to spread the message about health and development.

The Caribbean Community gears up for the CARICOM Wellness Revolution Day on Saturday 13 September, 2008, when a series of activities are planned to engage the Caribbean public in promoting physical activity and wellness.