Take the lead, Caricom
Dear Editor,
With all the “noise” made by Caricom since its inception, it is hard to think what it has produced beside periodic pronouncements both vocally and in print. But the imminent cholera disaster in poor Haiti is a misfortune that demands regional attention. What is needed is not more words but good deeds.
Haiti is a most deserving case in which Caricom could be useful. It should take the lead in mobilising medical support for the afflicted Haitians in the Artibonite region as well as in Port-au-Prince and other areas threatened by the insanitary conditions that create pre-conditions for cholera. The most urgent needs are for teams of doctors and equipment necessary to rehydrate the thousands of afflicted across the country. But supplying fruit and bottles of purified water could also help enormously.
Caricom should think of building a permanent Caribbean-wide emergency service that accumulates the resources for immediately attending to any epidemic outbreaks wherever in the region they occur. While that is asking a lot of an organisation with a long reputation of inactivity, this is the time to be optimistic. There is no better time than now. And there is no better cause today than Haiti. The lessons learnt there can lay the foundation for a Caribbean-wide emergency medical service that brings together needed services from across the entire region. Caribbean countries have the medical skills and the personnel for this worthy cause if they can coordinate their efforts.
George Norman Washington
Mandeville
Manchester