A mission team from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Basic Health International (BHI) recently met with the Honorable Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs Sir Molwyn Joseph, along with Permanent Secretaries, the Chief Medical Officer, and other senior executives within the Ministry of Health in Antigua and Barbuda.
This high-level engagement formed a key component of a broader technical mission aimed at assessing and strengthening the country’s national HPV program. The mission aligns with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer and reflects Antigua and Barbuda’s ongoing commitment to achieving elimination targets by 2030.
Antigua and Barbuda has already conducted a successful pilot phase for the introduction of HPV screening and subsequently scaled up the program nationally. The mission focused on four key objectives: assessing the performance of the national HPV screening program; identifying existing gaps and challenges; delivering capacity-building training; and developing a strengthening plan with actionable recommendations.
The program’s progress was evaluated against WHO’s three pillars—HPV vaccination, cervical cancer screening, and treatment of precancerous lesions and management of invasive cancer.
The mission team included Dr. Mauricio Maza, Regional Advisor for Cancer Prevention and Control at PAHO; Evaline and Karla Alfaro from Basic Health International; Dr. Taraleen Malcolm, NCD/Mental Health Advisor at PAHO; and Felicia Carter, PAHO Country Program Specialist (Ag.) for Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat.
