The Pandemic Fund

Background

Trinidad and Tobago received US$10 million from the Pandemic Fund to establish a One Health laboratory system and revolutionize the country’s diagnostic and testing capacity. The project leveraged US$3.4 million in co-investment from the government. The grant also catalyzed US$2.1 million in co-financing from the project’s Implementing Entity (IE) – the World Health Organization (WHO) – as well as the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. 

Trinidad and Tobago is an economic and travel hub for the Caribbean. That status brings with it the risk of infectious disease, including via animals and insect vectors as they travel throughout the region and to and from South America. Additionally, many of the refugees that Trinidad and Tobago has welcomed to the country are not yet registered with the local health system, complicating prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) efforts. Being an island nation increases the complexity. The country is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including extreme-weather events that can disrupt surveillance and service delivery. 

Trinidad and Tobago’s project features diverse, multisectoral collaboration, in keeping with the ethos of the Pandemic Fund. It is led by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land, and Fisheries, the Trinidad Public Health Laboratory, the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and the WHO. 
 

Project objectives

With the Pandemic Fund grant, Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Health aims to protect the country and its people by radically improving diagnostic and testing capacity.
 

Implementation arrangements and key components

Trinidad and Tobago’s project centers on two of the Pandemic Fund’s priorities: laboratory systems and workforce development. Activities spanning these areas follow. 

1. Optimizing reliable, timely testing. This work includes upgrading infrastructure and facilities at the Trinidad Public Health Laboratory and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, procuring equipment and supplies (including modern diagnostic and genomic surveillance technologies) to expand cross-sector testing modalities, and training staff to use the new surveillance and diagnostic techniques.
2. Developing ONE LAB+. Work in this area focuses on instituting a governance structure for integrated surveillance, developing a data management system and multisectoral testing and data-sharing procedures aligned with the Caribbean Public Health Agency’s (CARPHA) regional framework, and implementing laboratory protocols (including for genomics and metagenomics) and standard operating procedures to support the detection, characterization, and monitoring of an expanded range of diseases. It also includes involving communities in surveillance and outbreak activities and the One Health approach more broadly.
3. Establishing a UWI Centre of Excellence. This work focuses on building a UWI Emerging Diseases and Genomics Centre within ONE LAB+ that serves as a technical support, research, and training resource for surveillance and outbreak investigation. Activities in this area include upgrading UWI infrastructure and facilities to accommodate expanded research and training activities and developing and validating genomic and metagenomic protocols for environmental surveillance and outbreak investigation.
4. Develop human resources and PPR leadership. Activities in this area include delivering a hands-on training module to complement the CARPHA-led Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training program, as well as building a One Health Genomic Surveillance Fellowship program that targets the next generation of One Health leaders and fosters community-driven surveillance projects.

The WHO’s responsibilities will range from channeling Pandemic Fund resources to delivery partners to managing procurement and contracting processes, encouraging community engagement, and maintaining the project’s commitment to equity.
 

Expected outcomes

Within a three-year period, and with the support of the Pandemic Fund and other partners, Trinidad and Tobago expects to:

• Ensure reliable, timely testing to advance disease surveillance and early warning
• Develop a One Health Laboratory System (ONE LAB+)
• Create a UWI Centre of Excellence for disease surveillance, genomics, and bioinformatics, and
• Enhance human resources for One Health diagnosis, genomic surveillance, and PPR.