[Reprinted: Loop Caribbean News, 10-18-2020]
The Caribbean Training and Education Centre for Health (C-TECH) has officially launched independent operations, in Kingston, expanding over 17 years of healthcare programming within Jamaica and the region.
C-TECH holds strong expertise in implementing innovative HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes and has now broadened its scope to combat COVID-19 among key populations and support the fight against chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
C-TECH previously operated as the Caribbean office for the International Training and Education Centre for Health (I-TECH), a centre in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health, to support the development of a skilled health workforce and well-organised national health services.
As a result, the organisation’s high-calibre team of professionals has gained unparalleled experience working with local and regional partners in government, academia and civil society to support strong health systems.
C-TECH’s leadership includes Chairman and Senior Technical Clinical Advisor Dr Clive Anderson alongside Executive Director Natalie Irving-Mattocks.
On the official launch of the local entity, Irving-Mattocks said: “this is a game-changer. Our team is equipped and ready to move into this next chapter, to deepen our local relationships, expand our reach throughout the Caribbean, and build on our commitment to support access to high-quality health care for the region’s most vulnerable.”
To support its administrative structure C-TECH has adopted and adapted I-TECH’s robust financial and administrative policies, procedures, and systems to successfully administer and manage complex international grants from diverse funding sources, including Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), the Global Fund and United States Government funding agencies.
Notably, the C-TECH team has managed funds from the President Emergency Funds for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in excess of US$32 million to strengthen systems and human resources for health in the Caribbean.
In the past year alone, three other I-TECH offices in Haiti, India, and Zimbabwe have successfully launched local organisations, signalling I-TECH’s bedrock commitment to transition, sustainability, and country ownership to significantly contribute to the promotion of preventive health issues.