Barbados, China sign new agreement

THE Government of Barbados has embarked on a new agreement with the People’s Republic of China. Acting Minister of Health, Senator Patrick Todd and the Chinese Ambassador to Barbados, Her Excellency Wang Ke, recently signed an agreement for the assignment of Chinese health-care personnel to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

 

“This initiative is an outcome of an offer from the President of the People’s Republic of China to the Prime Minister of Barbados in 2013. 

 

To give fulfilment of this offer, a working group comprising of repre-sentatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China was established to prepare the terms and conditions under which the technical co-operation would be provided,” explained Todd.

 

The senator further stated that the objective of this inter-governmental agreement is to enhance clinical and technical skills and to explore best practices in health-care delivery. According to the agreement, a maximum of eight health-care professionals will be assigned to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on a rotation basis for a period of six months over two years.

 

Todd went on to say that the professionals coming from China will augment the staff at the hospital in the areas in need of capacity building and human resource development. Areas such as Nephrology, Interventional Radiology, Critical Care Nursing and Anaesthesiology are some in which Chinese professionals will work alongside Barbadian counterparts to transfer technical expertise; and apply international clinical standards and protocols.

 

Her Excellency Wang Ke expressed her delight in signing such an agreement with Barbados. While noting that this was nothing new to China, she explained that the signing was further testimony of the bilateral partnership that Barbados and China enjoys. She also disclosed that the expense of salaries, accommodation and other amenities will be paid for by the Government of China.

 

Nevertheless, this is only one of the many projects and initiatives that the two countries are currently working on. Her Excellency Wang Ke made mention of the Sam Lord’s Castle project, work at the Grantley Adams International Airport as well as renovations at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium that are either under way or in the pipeline.

 

Like all others, the Ambassador hopes that this latest agreement will bring benefits to the two peoples and the two countries.