Health Minister Molwyn Joseph

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On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health initiated a focused one-day retreat for its senior technicians, providing them with an opportunity to pause, reflect on the challenges and achievements of 2024, and strategize for the upcoming year 2025.

During this gathering, Health Minister Sir Molwyn Joseph characterized the year 2024 as one fraught with both difficulties and victories, emphasizing the important lessons that can be drawn from this period as the ministry prepares to face future endeavors.

“We celebrated significant achievements in our respective departments, but we also faced serious obstacles that tested our resilience, our creativity, and our capacity to adapt. Now, in 2025, we find ourselves in a critical moment, one that demands reflection, recalibration, and renewed focus,” the minister said.

He also points out that there are several trends that should be of great concern to us.

“Our national health and social support systems are under immense stress and tension. The increase in non-communicable diseases, the rise in mental health disorders, the surge in cancer cases, and the alarming onset of these conditions at younger ages,” he said

Meanwhile, Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kamara DeCastro emphasized the significance of maintaining focus amidst the rapid changes occurring in the healthcare landscape.

She also highlighted the crucial need for healthcare leaders to remain aligned with the Ministry of Health’s core mission.

This mission revolves around promoting and providing high-quality health services that are also accessible and affordable to all residents of Antigua and Barbuda.

Dr. DeCastro underscored the importance of supporting the community’s health needs in this evolving environment, ensuring that every individual can benefit from the essential health services they require.

“By execution of and compliance with this mandate, we will be assured of universal health coverage being available in this country, meaning that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need when and where they need them without financial hardship”.

And Ena Dalso Henry, Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Health, welcomed this initiative by Sir Molwyn.

“This is something that is quite welcome because in as much as we do our planning, normally during the year, we don’t often meet in this way, in this forum, where we can share our ideas, our thoughts, and plan what it is that we’re gonna do for 2025.”

“So today is your day to say to the policy makers, this is what we think, this is what we are looking toward to doing this year, 2025, and beyond. I am hoping that we can meet in this way, not just today, but if not annually, biannually, so that we can review what we planned and look at our accomplishments and successes,” she contends.