Government Prepares to Host Separate OECS Meetings

Hon. Dancia Penn, OBE, QC

The first meeting which is scheduled for Thursday, 11 September at the Long Bay Beach Hotel conference room is the 22nd board meeting of the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Service (OECS/PPS).

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting include the presentation of several papers, which include the “OECS/PPS Budget for 2008-2009” and “Feasibility Study on the Pooled Procurement of Dialysis Fluids and Supplies.” That meeting will also include a video presentation on counterfeit medicines and a discussion of strategies to combat counterfeit medicines. 

Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Social Development will welcome the delegates for the 22nd OECS/PPS board meeting during an opening ceremony on Wednesday evening at Long Bay Beach Hotel.

Previously known as the Eastern Caribbean Drug Service, the OECS/PPS was established in 1986 to maximise OECS government resources for the purchase of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. Pooled procurement of supplies through that scheme affords the British Virgin Islands and its OECS neighbours pharmaceutical products at prices that are as much as 44 percent lower than individual country prices.

The OECS/PPS is a formal grouping of nine Eastern Caribbean countries namely Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was established under a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). By 1989 the scheme was financially self-sufficient.   ~~Adz:Right~~
 
The other OECS meeting that will be hosted by the Territory is scheduled for Friday, 12 September, at the Long Bay Hotel conference room, and will be a meeting of OECS Health Ministers. The meeting will be attended by Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC. Details of that meeting’s agenda are expected to be released in the coming days.

The Ministry of Health and Social Development works to provide leadership that promotes health, social wellbeing, and a safe environment as positive resources for living and sustainable development. Among other things, the Ministry is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the health and social development of the Territory.