The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) on January 27th signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop a novel regional tourism health information, monitoring and response system.
The agreement will also allow for development of a Caribbean-wide health, safety and environmental tourism standards; and a training and certification programme to build capacity in food and environmental safety.
CARPHA will work along with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association to execute the project in six participating countries (Barbados, Belize, Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) from 2016-2019.
Dr. Lisa Indar, head of the Tourism and Health program at CARPHA, indicated that “the key benefit of this project will be fewer, less costly outbreaks and other negative public health events occurring in the tourism industry and thereby a healthier, safer, more reputable Caribbean for both visitors and locals.”
The Project is being funded by the IDB to the tune of US$ 800,000.
