The compilation of the new strategic plan for the health sector is still in its early stages.

Chief Health Planner, Dwight Calixte, said although the last strategic plan ended, the information is still relevant and will be incorporated into the new document.

The new health strategy for the island will be drafted by the first quarter of 2019. It will be aligned with the strategic development goals of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Health Achievement for the Americas by the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Among the priority areas to be included are health financing and international accreditation for health services.

“With our prioritization processes the health plan will assess our existing health profiles and ensure that whatever is developed over the next few months is in response to the needs of our population,” Mr. Calixte said.

He outlined some of the current health priorities for Saint Lucia.

“One of those is National Health Insurance,” he explained. “Health financing is very critical for us as well. Being responsive to our situation with NCDs is another. By way of process, the first is to ensure that we prioritize some of those areas, then we need to look at what our situational assessment is, and also the health profile that we have in terms of our existing population. As part of the process, interventions specific to these priorities need to be formulated and a roadmap needs to be done to plot what is necessary to achieve the targets.”

The Ministry of Health and Wellness’ quality policy is completed. It outlines quality standards across the public and private sectors, dealing with infrastructure, and services. Calixte said it states what needs to be done to meet certain quality standards with the intention of moving towards accreditation.

“So once you look at our health sector, you know that once you enter any health service, the standard set of services you receive is of a particular quality and a particular standard of international recognition. That is the direction we are heading with the health sector.”

The team responsible for the strategy will be meeting with PAHO in November to undertake the prioritization process.