Official Launch of the Trinidad & Tobago Training Centre (TTTC)
Trinidad & Tobago Training Centre: First Training Programme
On Friday, June 22, 2007 the formal launch of the Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) Training Centre took place with much fanfare at the UWI Tele-Health Centre located in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mount Hope, part of the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies. The launch was a virtual event where persons from Barbados, Jamaica and Seattle (USA) and in other areas in T&T such as San Fernando and Point Fortin were able to witness this inaugural occasion via teleconferencing.
According to the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS launched in March 2004, the Ministry of Health of Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) is responsible for developing and managing care and treatment programmes for persons living with HIV infection and its complications. An essential aspect of this programme is the acceleration of training for healthcare providers which Trinidad and Tobago needed to address. Senior health officials acknowledged the lack of a systematic approach to HIV/AIDS-related training to date, and welcomed the recommendation for the establishment of a Trinidad & Tobago Training Centre. After extensive consultation with the key national, regional and international agencies, there was consensus that the timing was right for the adoption of a more structured and systematic approach to HIV and AIDS as well as other health related training for healthcare workers and that a training centre should be instituted in Trinidad and Tobago.
The establishment of the T&T Training Centre was the outcome of ongoing discussions with several stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health (MOH), the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the CHART Network Regional Coordinating Unit (CHART RCU), the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), the Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago, University of the West Indies Faculty of Medical Sciences at Mount Hope (UWIFMSMH), the five regional health authorities, specifically the South West Regional Health Authority, the Tobago House of Assembly and the International Training and Education Center on HIV (I-TECH). Discussions began in 2002 during the planning stages for the establishment of the CHART Initiative and intensified over the last year. During a significant consultative meeting in November 2006, it was agreed that the UWIFMSMH would be responsible for the management and administration of the Training Centre. Consequently, a series of planning meetings and deliberations for setting up the centre were held with the various stakeholders with UWI at the helm. The first activities conducted by the Centre have been a training needs assessment and the creation of a one year training plan for the proposed centre. The assessment confirmed the urgent need to expedite the establishment of the Training Centre.
The centre’s purpose is in line with the Ministry of Health’s vision of providing “universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and treatment for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Trinidad and Tobago.” The overall objective of the centre is to scale up access to care, treatment and support for people living with HIV and AIDS by developing a cadre of trained health care workers capable of delivering high quality care, treatment and support to PLWHA.
The prospects that this centre holds for the people of T&T were emphasized during the launch. Mrs. Sandra Jones, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, who represented the Minister of Health and gave the feature address on Training in the Delivery of Health Care, expressed her delight at the opening of the centre. “This initiative was long in coming but the impact will prove that the wait has been worthwhile,” she stated. She expressed her pride in being involved in the initiative noting that she was “profoundly optimistic about the programme and the impact it will have on the treatment of HIV/AIDS in T&T.”
Thirty-five persons were in attendance at the UWI Tele-Health Center for this memorable event. Professor Zulaika Ali, Director, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and Director of the UWI Tele-Health Programme at UWI St. Augustine, chaired the ceremony. Remarks were given by Dr. Trevor Allen who represented the Dean, of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Angela Lee Loy, Chair of the NACC, Professor Brendan Bain, Director of the CHART RCU and Dr. Chris Behrens, Medical Director of I-TECH. Virtual greetings were given by James Goggin, USAID Mission Representative in Barbados; June Alleyne-Griffin, I-TECH Caribbean Field Manager on behalf of those in attendance at the virtual site in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago; Terri Myrie, National Training Coordinator from CHART Jamaica; and Dr. Nicholas Adomakoh, Medical Director, from CHART Barbados.