The Bahamas Representation
of the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO] and World Health Organization
[WHO] wishes to advise that the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth
of The Bahamas, Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, was yesterday, September 29th,
2009, awarded the 2009 PAHO Award for Administration in Washington,
DC, USA.
Every year the Governments
of the countries of the Americas, acting through their representatives
in the meetings of the Governing Bodies of the Pan American Health Organization,
confer the PAHO Award for Administration in recognition of an outstanding
contribution in the field of administration within the framework of
national health services. More specifically, the Award is conferred
on a candidate, who has made a significant contribution in their home
country and in the Region of the Americas to improving health development,
through the management or execution of services and programs, teaching
and research.
The Jury of the PAHO
Administration Award decided to confer the 2009 Award on Dr. Merceline
Dahl-Regis, for her contribution to health care management and research,
and medical education in primary health care. This decision also acknowledges
her leadership in institutionalizing public health surveillance across
all of The Bahamas, and in evaluating and redefining the parameters
for the Caribbean Cooperation in Health.
Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis,
who has been the Chief Medical Officer of the Bahamas for the past twelve
years, has been instrumental in improving the administration of national
health programs and services across both the public and private sectors;
in developing new strategies and programs to respond to changing health
and societal scenarios as well as newly emerging diseases, such as H1N1
Influenza A virus; in teaching and mentoring newly graduated medical
and health professionals in primary health care so as to enhance the
cadre of health staff available to work in The Bahamas; and in leading
new public health interventions, such as the immunization of adult males
and females in order to eliminate indigenous rubella transmission and,
more importantly, congenital rubella syndrome [CRS].
Dr. Dahl-Regis’
contributions have not only brought significant benefit to The Bahamas,
but also to the wider Caribbean through her unstinting and active involvement
and participation on many Committees and Advisory bodies of the Caribbean
Community [CARICOM]. Her technical and clinical skills coupled with
her exceptional management and administrative competencies made her
a highly sought after professional, such that she was selected to sit
on many committees at the global level, such as the Global Alliance
for Vaccines and Immunization [GAVI]. She has been representing the
Bahamas as a Member of the WHO’s Executive Board, since 2007.
In her acceptance speech,
Dr. Dahl-Regis, indicated that she was greatly indebted to the Prime
Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the Right Honorable Hubert
Ingraham, for making it possible for her to serve her country as Chief
Medical Officer. She also expressed her sincerest thanks to her fellow
Chief Medical Officers in The Caribbean, for their on-going support
and mentoring; to her family for their unwavering support; and to her
many mentors, including Sir George Alleyne for their selfless guidance.
She indicated that she was pleased to accept the Award on behalf of
women in Public Health, in general, and female physicians, in particular.
She further noted that
Bahamian physicians and health workers had made significant contributions
in public health, both internationally and at home and explained further
that in 1987, at the 32nd Directing Council of PAHO, the
then Minister of Health for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Dr. Norman
Gay, had challenged his Ministerial colleagues from the Region of the
Americas to eradicate Poliomyelitis. The positive response to this challenge
is today reflected in the health of our children as well as in an absence
of poliomyelitis. Dr. Dahl-Regis under-scored the fact that primary
health care not only provides quality care, but that it is also a better
investment of our health dollars.
Dr. Dahl-Regis exhorted
current physicians to support this new generation of medical practitioners
to choose careers in public service and primary health care, pointing
out that it was important to exact a balance in social and preventative
medicine, while embracing the advances in hospital medicine. She opined
that without an increase in the number of primary health care providers,
the Bahamas will have neither a healthy nor a prosperous nation.
Dr. Dahl-Regis accepted
the Award on behalf of her Country, its Government, the health work
force, and women in medicine, in particular.
The Bahamas Representation
of the Pan American Health Organization sincerely congratulates Dr.
Dahl-Regis on the receipt of this prestigious award and the global recognition
of her contribution to improving the health of the peoples of the Bahamas,
the Caribbean, the Region of the Americas and the world.
