ST JAMES, Jamaica — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says his ministry is willing to partner with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Ministry of Health in research that will provide up-to-date data that could assist in managing health arrangements in the sector.

Bartlett said he believes the provision of data that can be measured and managed is critical to finding solutions. 


“And, so we want to invest in research with you. Because, the numbers that you enumerate a while ago, we accept are dated. So, we really don’t know where we stand at this minute. So we need that information. So we are willing to work with you,” the minister added.

He was delivering the main address at the launch of the Jamaica Tourism and Health Programme, which was held at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in St James today.

Bartlett’s pledge was in response to two earlier speakers, Dr Lisa Indar, Head of the Tourism and Health Programme at CARPHA and Dr Winston De La Haye, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Both doctors spoke about the issue of tourism being vulnerable to health, safety and environmental sanitation (HSE) threats including disease outbreaks/ crises, which is a challenge to the sustainability of Caribbean tourism.

The launch of the Jamaica Tourism and Health Programme is a collaborative effort of the Ministries of Tourism and Health. 


The initiative forms part of a regional tourism and health project, jointly funded by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) grant, which promotes the development of a sustainable and profitable tourism product in the Caribbean.

Anthony Lewis