Barbados has strengthened its ability to detect and respond to drug-resistant infections, with the Best dos Santos Public Health Laboratory now designated a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre, placing the island in a leading role in the regional fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The lab would give Barbados the ability to detect threats early, before they spread, considering the risks posed by pathogens to the island’s declining and ageing population, which already has high levels of non-communicable diseases, said Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

She stressed the importance of collaboration among health agencies ahead of a crisis in order to protect the population: “Collaboration is the sine qua non for progress in public health. Without collaboration and without partnership, we are not able to contain the spread of diseases. Without collaboration and without partnership, we are not able to expand the body of science and knowledge that we have. Without collaboration and without partnership, we are literally in a position of being a victim of circumstances…