The Ministry of Health has congratulated Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas on her
appointment as Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization’s
Sanitary Bureau.
An inauguration ceremony, organized by PAHO will be held on Saturday
12 th October, 2023. Among the speakers scheduled for the ceremony are the
Minister of Health, Sir Molwyn Joseph, and Dr. Jarbas Brabosa da Silva Jr.,
Director of the Pan American Health Organization.
The Pan American Sanitary Bureau (PASB) is the Secretariat of the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) and according to its website, is committed to
providing technical support and leadership to the PAHO Member States, as they
pursue their goal of Health for All and the values therein.
Its functions include urging each Republic to promptly and regularly transmit to
the Bureau all data relative to the sanitary conditions of their respective ports and
territories, obtaining all possible aid for a thorough, careful, and scientific study
and investigation of any outbreaks of pestilential disease which may occur in any
of the said Republics, to lend its best aid and experience toward the widest possible
protection of the public health of each of the republics, so that disease may be
eliminated and that commerce between the said Republics may be facilitated and to
encourage and aid or enforce in all proper ways the sanitation of seaports,
including sanitary improvements of harbors, sewage, drainage of the soil, paving,
elimination of infection from buildings, and destruction of mosquitoes and other
vermin.
Dr. Sealey-Thomas, a national of Antigua and Barbuda, received her Bachelor of
Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of the West Indies
in 1998, a Master of Public Health in 2005, and a Doctorate in Public Health from
the Mona Campus, Jamaica in 2020. She commenced her journey as a Medical
Officer of Health for the Ministry of Health in Antigua and Barbuda, supervising a
broad spectrum of healthcare professionals from 2000 to 2004.
Ascending to a pivotal role, she served as the Chief Medical Officer from 2005 to
2023, where she acted as the primary advisor on paramount public health matters,
chaired multiple national health committees, and represented the government on
both regional and international platforms.
