Bringing together healthcare officials, policymakers, financial experts, and PAHO representatives, the Ministry of Health discussed the costs of administering life-saving vaccines in sustainable way for Saint Lucia. This, as part of the Universal Health Coverage, is crucial in empowering healthcare staff with a deeper understanding of the financial frameworks that sustain immunisation programmes.
National Immunisation Manager, Nurse Bernadette Regis, emphasised the importance of the initiative in securing funding and resources to protect Saint Lucians from vaccine-preventable diseases.
āThe main goal is to carefully analyse how we can extend our immunisation program over the next five years in a sustainable way. We are not just planning but calculating the cost of expanding our immunisation coverage. This is the first time we are conducting such a comprehensive exercise, which will position us to secure the necessary funding to strengthen our national health system,āĀ she explained.
According to Nurse Regis, the next step is to conduct detailed cost assessments to guide decision making. āThe next step is a thorough costing exercise to ensure we make informed decisions on which expansions to prioritise. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that every Saint Lucian has access to life-saving vaccines and that our immunisation program remains strong and sustainable,ā Nurse Regis stated.
PAHO Consultant, Dr. Elizabeth Ferdinand, highlighted the importance of this preliminary stage in identifying key priorities, assessing challenges, and determining the most feasible strategies for implementation.
āThis is just the beginning. We are identifying critical vaccines, strategies, and priorities for introduction over the next five years. We must assess the challenges, rank priorities, and guide the government on what is feasible within financial and human resource constraints,ā explained Dr. Ferdinand.
Vaccines remain free of cost for Saint Lucians, administered at different ages of development.
