Lisa Indar is Carpha's new executive director

DR LISA INDAR is the new executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha).

This was announced on Monday in a Carpha press release which said her appointment became effective February 1. She was interim executive director since July 2024, having served in the substantive post of director, surveillance, disease prevention and control since 2019, as well as head of the regional tourism and health programme since 2014.

The release said that at a recent staff retreat, Indar shared her vision for the agency and unveiled the new strategic plan 2025-2030.

Indar, Carpha said, has over 20 years' experience in regional and international public health. She holds a PhD, MSc (Distinction) and BSc (Honours) with multidisciplinary qualifications.

Under her stewardship, she led several key public health initiatives, including, but not limited to:

• Co-ordination of Carpha’s successful, multi-faceted regional health response to the pandemic, working with 26 countries, chief medical officers, and international and regional stakeholders to mitigate the impact of the virus across the Caribbean.

• Spearheaded implementation of the US$16M regional pandemic fund grant, aimed at enhancing pandemic preparedness and response capabilities across Carpha’s 26 member states.

• Development of Carpha’s regional health security framework – a strategic initiative to strengthen regional public health preparedness and response

• Co-ordinated the implementation of a novel mass gathering surveillance system for the ICC Men’s T20 cricket world cup in 2024, enabling real-time monitoring of public health risks during large-scale events.

• Co-ordinated Carpha’s regional health response following Hurricane Beryl and the Mpox outbreak in August 2024, ensuring effective public health interventions and support for affected member states.

• Led the development of the regional integrated One Health surveillance strategy (linking human, animal and environmental health).

• Developed the regional tourism and health programme which tackled health, safety, and environmental sanitation threats within the tourism sector, as well as the one health food borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance programmes.

Carpha is the sole, integrated, regional public health agency responsible for preventing disease, promoting and protecting health in the Caribbean through leadership, innovation and partnerships.