SETH Fund

The Meeting adopted a 10-point plan of action to manage the spread of infectious and vector-borne diseases in the Region.  The creation of a Stop Ebola There and Here Fund (SETH Fund) was an integral part of the 10-point action plan.  Although Ebola came under control, other threats emerged.  It is to these threats that CARPHA and the Caribbean health community have been responding, the latest of which is Zika.

Given the changing landscape, as well as the relevance of this initiative to regional health security, it was recommended that the narrow focus of Ebola be changed to include all major threats to regional health security. The Fund is therefore now referred to as the Stop Epidemics There and Here (SETH) Fund.

Official CARPH SETH Fund Theme Song

PURPOSE OF THE SETH FUND

The SETH Fund aims to improve regional health security by:

• Aiding with the public health investigations, containment and prevention of the spread of an outbreak, epidemic or a pandemic-prone disease utilising effective response strategies to the public health emergency
• Helping save lives as a result of early and effective health interventions
• Developing a unified strategy among CARPHA countries aimed at working together to preserve the wellbeing and health of our nationals and visitors through support for preparedness activities
• Creating and continuously funding a Regional Rapid Response Team (conceptualised as CaribREACT) able to reach any member state in 72 hours to provide technical assistance and funding for the national response team to contain/stop an outbreak early on, gaining experience for regional benefit
• Supporting public education of our citizens and visitors, to ensure that they know the facts of prevention, infection and spread of regional and global epidemics/public health threats
• Facilitating CARPHA to participate in World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) and Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) disaster and epidemic response mechanisms

ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN BY THE SETH FUND

The fund will undertake the following activities in support of fulfilling its mandate, which include:

• Deployment of rapid response personnel during outbreaks, public health emergencies, severe natural disasters, chemical and other events with health consequences
• Field activities directly related to an outbreak, epidemic or public health emergency response, including disease surveillance, information systems and related communications
• Immediate response interventions against vaccine-preventable diseases
• Participating, where required, as part of global response teams for outbreaks and public health emergencies outside of the Caribbean to both provide technical assistance to contain the spread of the epidemic at source and to build capacity to manage/respond to outbreaks and public health emergencies
• Undertaking simulation executions
• Training personnel to establish/enhance national and region surge capacity for health response and deployment to affected countries in health emergencies. As part of this preparation to respond to critical requests, the Fund will support the emergency response team with all relevant protection, treatment and response equipment.
• Developing and disseminating educational and awareness messages to alert the public and relevant parties of epidemiological emergencies.

CAN I CONTRIBUTE TO THE SETH FUND?

Everyone can contribute. The SETH Fund needs donations from governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the corporate community, development agencies and citizens like you, here and abroad.

As an individual, you can make a donation to the SETH Fund via Pay Pal or send a cheque to The CARPHA Foundation. Click the DONATE button below to get started.

Frequently Asked Questions