Chairman of the Executive Board
Dr Joy St John has been the Chief Medical Officer of Barbados since February 2005. She is currently a member of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Board, the NCD commission, the HIV Commission, the Mental Health Commission, Chairman of the Health Services Standing Committee of the Department of Emergency Management and is the IHR Focal Point of Barbados. A graduate (MBBS) of the University of the West Indies, she began her service in public health in 1994 in her country’s public sector primary health care polyclinics, being awarded a PAHO fellowship to study for a Master’s degree in Public Health at the University of the West Indies in 1996, and graduating first in her class.
Highlights of her work to date in Barbados include: development of the breast-feeding policy and the spearheading of the designation and re-designation of the QEH as a Baby-Friendly Hospital; the creation and implementation of the “Alternative Care of the Elderly” programme in 2000; coordination of the national influenza pandemic preparedness efforts since 2006 and management of the national H1N1 pandemic response 2009 — 2010; and the spearheading of efforts to develop and implement the legislation that banned smoking in public places in 2010.
Her work on regional and international initiatives include: her work on reform issues as a member of the subcommittee of the Executive Committee of PAHO responsible for developing the roadmap for PAHO in the 21st Century; as a member of the steering committee that planned the historic Heads of Government of CARICOM summit on Chronic Disease , and her roles in the lead up to, and outcomes of the United Nations High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, both as co-chair and chair of the drafting groups in 2011-2012, resulting in related resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly.
Dr St John is married and is the proud mother of two daughters.