Health Minister Emil Lee with conference participants.
PHILIPSBURG–The formation of a Disaster Committee which would be chaired by St. Maarten was one of the outcomes of a three-day health disaster conference organised by the Ministry of Health’s Public Health Department last week.
The conference was the continuation of the cooperation on health care that was established between the Kingdom partners in Curaçao in June. The focus of the conference was to obtain clarity for the formalisation of the critical areas for the disaster preparedness programme in relation to public health.
In attendance at the conference were representatives from the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, St. Eustatius, Saba and Bonaire. Local stakeholders such as St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC); pharmacies; White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF), family doctors, Mental Health Foundation (MHF), Social and Health Insurances SZV and government.
Several general agreements were made on how the participating destinations can support each other in the event of a crisis or disaster. Committees will formalise how support can occur in upcoming sessions.
“Goodwill is there, but we need to make sure that the protocols are in place,” Health Minister Emil Lee was quoted as saying in a press release on Thursday. “Collective protocols need to be established and formalised for the evacuation of critical and dialysis patients, for non-critical or self-evacuated persons, mental patients, for medical supplies and equipment, for medical staff including living arrangements and a mass casualty plan. The working collaboration between labs, hospitals and pharmacies was also discussed.
“As we are looking at all of our health care policies, we want to ensure that there is a level of disaster preparedness in place with everything that we are doing. The ministry is working towards health in all policies. Having appropriate ministries take appropriate precautions helps us maintain a healthier population,” Lee said.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79895-disaster-committee-to-be-formed-st-maarten-to-chair
View comments
Hide comments