On 18th July 2012, a courtesy call was paid to the Honourable Orville London, Chief Secretary, Tobago House of Assembly by staff from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The purpose of the visit was two-fold, firstly, to brief Mr. London on UNFPA’s work in SRH, particularly the Family Planning and Reproductive Health capacity building workshop for Tobago health professionals (nurses, midwives and doctors) that was taking place in Tobago that week; and secondly, to present him with an award for his contribution to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) in Trinidad and Tobago in commemoration of World Population Day (WPD). As part of the WPD 2012 series of activities, UNFPA, the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Family Planning Association of Trinidad & Tobago (FPATT) recognized seven (7) pioneers in the area of Family Planning in Trinidad & Tobago. The visit to the Chief Secretary was made by Ms. Tammy Yates, Assistant Representative, UNFPA Branch Office, Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Aurora Noguera-Ramkissoon, HIV and AIDS Officer of the same office and Dr. Mario Aguilar, UNFPA Caribbean Office, SRH Advisor.
The Chief Secretary was quite pleased that UNFPA in collaboration with the Trinidad & Tobago Association of Midwives (TTAM) and the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) agreed to convene a training workshop for Tobago Health professionals, since a similar workshop was held for Health Care Professionals in Trinidad. Mr. London shared the belief that while Tobago has a new hospital, it was acknowledged that it was equally important to raise the capacity of its staff in delivering services. He was also grateful that his work in SRH was acknowledged and reiterated his commitment to support the improvement of SRH in Tobago.
