PORT OF SPAIN - Cancer continues to represent one of the greatest public health challenges facing the Region. The Caribbean experiences some of the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the Americas, placing enormous demands on our health systems, economies, and communities. The Global Cancer Observatory indicates that the regional cancer burden is high and will continue to rise substantially, with annual new cancer cases for the Caribbean projected to increase by approximately 55%, from 123,884 in 2024 to 191,997 by 2050.
In response to these challenges, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Caribbean Association for Oncology and Hematology (CAOH) have formalised a new five-year partnership aimed at strengthening the Caribbean's response to the significant and growing burden of cancer. The partnership, established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), provides a collaborative framework for joint action in cancer surveillance, prevention, workforce development, nutrition, access to safe and quality-assured cancer medicines, and public awareness. The MoU brings together the regional public health leadership of CARPHA and CAOH's specialised expertise in oncology and haematology to support more coordinated, evidence-informed approaches to cancer prevention and control across CARPHA Member States.
Dr. Lisa Indar, Executive Director of CARPHA, welcomed the partnership, noting that addressing cancer requires sustained collaboration, as no single institution can address the growing burden of cancer alone. "Regional collaboration has always been one of the Caribbean's greatest strengths and this partnership provides an important opportunity to bring together technical expertise, regional data and public health action to strengthen prevention, early detection, cancer control and access to quality-assured medicines".
Under the MoU, CARPHA will provide technical leadership and support through relevant technical departments, including its Chronic Disease and Injury Department (CDI), Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS), and Medicines Quality Control and Surveillance Department (MQCSD).
Dr. Marisa Nimrod, Chief Executive Officer of CAOH, said the partnership represents an important step towards strengthening regional collaboration in oncology and haematology. "Through this partnership with CARPHA, our members will benefit from joint programmes, regional training, research collaboration, professional networking, and opportunities to contribute to strengthening cancer surveillance and advancing Caribbean cancer policy and programme development".
This partnership establishes a framework for cooperation in several important areas; strengthening cancer surveillance and improving the quality and use of cancer registry data to support evidence-informed cancer control planning. CARPHA and CAOH will collaborate on key areas, such as:
Workforce development and professional training
Support for research and knowledge exchange
Promote healthy nutrition and physical activity as key cancer prevention strategies
Strengthen workplace safety related to hazardous cancer medicines, and
Improve regional systems for medicines quality assurance, pharmacovigilance and post-market surveillance of oncology medicines.
CARPHA continues to expand its work across the cancer control continuum through the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Caribbean Cancer Registry Hub. Population-based cancer registration and surveillance, is strengthened, ensuring that countries have the high-quality data needed to guide policy and evaluate interventions. CARPHA is also advancing work in non-communicable disease prevention, healthy nutrition, physical activity, medicines quality assurance, and pharmacovigilance, which are all essential components of comprehensive cancer care.
Strengthening Medicines Quality and Pharmacovigilance in Oncology Care Across the Region
Ensuring that patients have access to safe, effective and quality-assured medicines is a critical component of quality cancer care. As the use of increasingly complex oncology therapies expands across the Caribbean, strengthening systems to monitor medicine quality, safety and effectiveness has become essential to protecting patients and improving treatment outcomes.
At the 14th CAOH Annual Scientific Conference held on July 17, 2026, Dr. Chantelle Bailey, Programme Manager, CARPHA's Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS), and Ms. Nicole Ennis, Head of the Medicines Quality and Control Surveillance Department (MQCSD) contributed to the Conference's scientific programme through a dedicated technical high-level session. They both led a hybrid panel discussion examining the critical role of medicines quality assurance, pharmacovigilance and post-market surveillance including medicines used in oncology treatment and care.
The session, titled "Advancing Cancer Prevention and Control Across the Eastern Caribbean" highlighted the importance of robust national and regional systems to detect and address risks associated with medicines, including substandard, falsified and unregistered products. Such risks can compromise treatment effectiveness, contribute to adverse outcomes and undermine confidence in health systems.
Session participants explored national and regional challenges to ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of cancer medicines, while examining approaches for pharmacovigilance and post-market surveillance systems across CARPHA Member States (CMS). The session emphasised the shared responsibility of regulatory authorities, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders in identifying medicine-related risks, reporting adverse drug reactions and supporting effective surveillance.
Discussions centred around risk-based post-market surveillance, laboratory testing and quality monitoring, improving the detection and reporting of substandard and falsified medicines, regulatory collaboration among CMS, and emerging challenges in oncology medicine quality assurance. The session concluded with recommendations for strengthening medicines quality assurance and pharmacovigilance in oncology care, to support CMS in advancing patient safety and more resilient health systems across the Caribbean.
Ultimately, this session — the first output delivered under the newly signed CARPHA-CAOH partnership —reflected the shared commitment to strengthening access for patients throughout the Caribbean to medicines that are safe, effective and quality-assured, supported by robust regulatory and surveillance systems.