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St.Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister The Honourable Dr Timothy Harris on Thursday May 7th launched the “greening” of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Federation Park Headquarters with the planting of a Flamboyant, the national tree of St.Kitts-Nevis on the CARPHA campus grounds.

Prime Minister Harris took the time to visit CARPHA while in Trinidad and Tobago for the Forum on the Future of the Caribbean. Executive Director, CARPHA, Dr C James Hospedales explained that “this initiative will see the grounds of CARPHA abloom with the national tree or flower of each CARPHA Member State in the future.”

At the tree planting ceremony, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, CARICOM Secretary General also planted the Chaconia, the national flower of Trinidad and Tobago. Ambassador Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM and Ms Wendy Phipps, Minister of Health of St Kitts and Nevis and Chair of the CARPHA Executive Board, along with the staff of CARPHA witnessed the special event.

Prior to the tree planting, the CARPHA Executive Management Team met with the Caribbean leaders. During the meeting, the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis emphasized the value of CARPHA, citing its technical expertise in addressing public health concerns of relevance to Caribbean development. Ambassador La Rocque also commended CARPHA on its contribution to the Region, in particular the work done in responding to the Chikungunya outbreak.

CARPHA is the new single regional public health agency for the Caribbean. It was legally established in July 2011 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by Caribbean Heads of Government and began operation in January 2013. CARPHA brings together five previously existing regional health institutions as one strong force under a public health umbrella, under which issues requiring a regional response are addressed.