Best-dos Santos Lab Receives AMR Surveillance Designation

Barbados has achieved another significant milestone in public health leadership with the formal designation of the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory as a World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance.

During a recognition ceremony held today, at the Laboratory’s Enmore Complex, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley emphasised that collaboration and partnerships are needed more than ever before, concerning the global AMR threat and that rapid detection, timely diagnosis, whole-of-society approach, data modernisation, and stakeholder trust are the pillars that should drive a modern public health system.

She told the audience which included Minister of Health and Wellness, Senator Lisa Cummins; Director of the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory, Dr. Songee Beckles; and PAHO/WHO Representative, Barbados and Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Amalia Del Riego that while robust disease surveillance capabilities were essential for preventing and mitigating epidemics, pandemics, and other health emergencies, meaningful collaboration and partnerships remained the cornerstone of an effective public health response.

“I believe that the partnership between the international institutions, such as WHO and PAHO, with local institutions, with academic institutions, is at the core of our ability to be successful in this battle, and it is imperative that we use the language of our President: no retreat, no surrender,” Ms. Mottley stressed.

Speaking to the AMR designation, the Prime Minister noted that the designation recognised years of sustained investment, technical excellence, regional collaboration, and unwavering commitment by Barbados to strengthening public health capacity across the Caribbean.

“We have committed, as a global community, at the United Nations General Assembly to be able to reduce the level of deaths from bacterial infection by 10 per cent. And 10 per cent may not seem large to many of you, but the most important thing is to break the trend, to break the trajectory, which has continued upwards rather than stabilising or declining.

“We believe that it is through the actions that we are taking today that, in the good old tradition of the Barbadian proverb, one, one, blow is kill old cow, that we will achieve success globally. It will not come from speeches on platforms; it will come from investments and training and changes of policy, and that is why it is impossible for me not to feel proud this morning, because having raised the global awareness for five years, we are now ensuring that Barbados does not just talk the talk, but Barbados walks the walk in this tangible way…. We are becoming world class. We are not yet there, but we can set the vision, and we can make it there as a world class example for small island developing states.”

Explaining what the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Anti-Microbial Resistance Surveillance designation meant for Barbados, the Laboratory’s Director, Dr.. Beckles stated: “In terms of our designation as a PAHO/WHO collaborative centre for AMR services and surveillance, it stamps our authority and shows the Caribbean, Barbados, and the wider international community that we are up to the quality standards that are required for AMR detection and surveillance, and to be able to make a difference for Barbadian populations, as well as the wider Caribbean.”

PAHO/WHO Representative, Ms. Del Riego highlighted that for decades, the Best-dos Santos Laboratory has served as a regional hub for training, reference services, and technical support. Laboratory professionals from across the Caribbean, she stated, have benefited from training programmes hosted by the facility, returning to their countries with enhanced expertise in diagnostics, surveillance, and public health response.

She noted that Barbados provided these services voluntarily and consistently, investing its own resources, specialist expertise, laboratory space, and consumables to support regional public health efforts. “This is the true spirit of a PAHO Collaborating Centre,” she said.

Meanwhile, Minister Cummins shared that for years, Barbados has been at the forefront of advocacy on the impact of antimicrobial resistance, and noted that Prime Minister Mottley, in her role as Chair of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, made significant contributions to the adoption of the United Nations Political Declaration on AMR, efforts to secure catalytic financing for national AMR responses, and the establishment of global targets for 2030.

“Barbados has demonstrated both aspirational and inspirational leadership on antimicrobial resistance and many other public health issues,” she said. Prime Minister Mottley, Minister Cummins, Dr. Beckles, and Dr. Del Riego all congratulated the staff of the laboratory for their commitment to public health and achieving the designation.