Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has expanded its regional laboratory network with the opening of an Antimicrobial Resistance Regional Reference Laboratory in Jamaica, which is set to strengthen disease surveillance and diagnostic capacity across its 26 member states.

The laboratory, officially launched on July 22 in Kingston, completes CARPHA’s network of regional referral laboratories in Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia and Jamaica. With this new lab, the regional health body’s strategic distribution testing capacity throughout the region will reduce the time required to transport samples, shorten turnaround times for critical diagnostic testing and enable faster public health responses to infectious disease outbreaks. 

The expanded network is also expected to improve access to specialised microbiology and clinical diagnostic services across the Caribbean. The laboratory is housed within CARPHA’s Medical Microbiology and Quality Control Services Division and was established through the Caribbean Antimicrobial Resistance Alliance with funding from the UK’s Fleming Fund, the UK Health Security Agency and the UK Department of Health and Social Care.

Local health system to benefit

CARPHA reports that the investment in the regional laboratory network has included new diagnostic equipment, laboratory upgrades and workforce development to expand testing capacity for antimicrobial resistance and other infectious diseases. Following the laboratory’s opening, CARPHA and the UK Health Security Agency completed a two-week technical mission to Jamaica aimed at assessing and strengthening the country’s national antimicrobial resistance programme.

Working with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness and other stakeholders, the team reviewed governance, surveillance systems, laboratory capacity, infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship before presenting recommendations for strengthening national systems. The recommendations included improving governance and coordination, enhancing laboratory and surveillance systems, strengthening antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention programmes, supporting workforce development and making greater use of surveillance data to guide public health action.

Cayman also benefiting

Cayman’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Hilary Wolf has welcomed the launch of the regional laboratory, saying it will strengthen collaboration on antimicrobial resistance across the Caribbean. The launch of the lab comes as health officials worldwide warn that antimicrobial resistance, in which bacteria and other microorganisms become resistant to medicines used to treat infections, is becoming an increasingly serious public health challenge. 

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites do not respond to antimicrobial medicines. For Dr. Wolf, “It’s incredibly exciting,” she said in an interview with the Compass. “We give huge congratulations to CARPHA for the opening of this regional reference lab. It will provide incredible regional surveillance and diagnostic capacity across the Caribbean, which is much needed.” 

Wolf said the expanded regional network could create opportunities for greater collaboration, including specialised testing and the referral of samples between jurisdictions where appropriate. CARPHA cited estimates that antimicrobial resistance could contribute to 10 million deaths annually by 2050 and said Caribbean countries continue to face obstacles including limited surveillance systems, delayed diagnostics and the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

The World Health Organisation reports that in 2023, about 1 in 6 laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections globally were resistant to antibiotics, resulting in US$412 billion annually in treatment costs to 2035 and additional productivity losses of US$443 billion annually.

“The world faces an antimicrobial research and development crisis, with few new medicines in the pipeline,” declared the Geneva-based agency.