New source for medical supplies

As the Caribbean continues to grapple with the covid-19 pandemic,
countries in the region will now have access to and benefit from the
Africa Medical Supplies Platform.

Word of this has come from Prime Minister of Barbados and Outgoing
Chairman of the Heads of Government of CARICOM, Mia Amor Mottley.

Prime Minister Mottley made the disclosure during an online ceremony
yesterday morning to hand over the chairmanship of CARICOM to
the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

During her remarks, she explained that this platform will allow even
the smallest country in the Caribbean to access personal protective
equipment, in vitro diagnostics as well as therapeutics and vaccines
when they become available, in the same way that the largest country
in Africa will do.

“...We would be able to make sure that what transpired in March, April
and May would not be repeated going forward because we have access to
the suppliers, who can supply for us at the scale that we need. And
more importantly, a country like St. Kitts with 40 000 people would be
able to procure goods at the same price as Nigeria with over 200
million persons as their population base,” she said.

She continued, “So that opportunity to be able to be on boarded on the
Africa Medical Supplies Platform, gives us a tremendous chance for our
individual countries, our hospitals, our polyclinics to be able to
fight off the worst ravages of covid-19.”

With that in mind, she expressed sincere gratitude to the President of
South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta,
in his capacity as the President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States, for agreeing to allow the Caribbean to benefit from
the critical medical supplies programme. She made the point while
indicating that such access will be a “game changer” for the Caribbean
in the management of covid-19.

Meanwhile, speaking of the excellent work done by regional
institutions the likes of CARPHA, IMPACS and CDEMA during the
pandemic, she said they have stood the test of time and are playing an
invaluable role in the region, at a time when individual countries do
not on their own have the capacity to meet the demands of their
people.

She made the comments while indicating that covid-19 has scarred 2020
in unimaginable ways and has brought serious economic hardship and
damage to the Caribbean. Mottley explained that this has caused
regional governments to continue to put the case for assistance given
that the Caribbean is the most travelled and trade dependent region in
the world. She noted that in some instances as much as 40 to 50 per
cent of the GDP, directly and indirectly, is as a result of tourism.
(JRT)