Carissa Faustina Etienne (2 November 1952 – 1 December 2023) was a Dominican public health expert. She served as the Director of the

Pan American Health Organization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency working to improve the health and living standards of the people of the Americas. It is part of the United Nations system, serving as the Regional Office for ...

(PAHO) and Regional Director for the Americas of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) (2018–2023). Up to her death, she was in her second five-year term as PAHO director, having been re-elected by the PAHO member states during the Pan American Sanitary Conference in September 2017. In January 2018, she was named Regional Director for the Americas for WHO by its Executive Board based in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. She was an advocate for universal health coverage.

Early life and education

Etienne graduated with a degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

in Jamaica. She held a master's degree in community health from the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

, UK.

Career

Etienne started her career as a medical officer in the Princess Margaret Hospital in Dominica. She was Director of Primary Health Care Services, Disaster Coordinator, National Epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health, Coordinator of the National AIDS Program, Chair of the National AIDS Committee, and had two separate terms as Chief Medical Officer. Etienne was the Assistant Director of PAHO from 2003 to 2008. She served as the Assistant Director-General of Health Systems and Services at the

in 2008–12. She was elected PAHO director in September 2012 and took up the position, which has a five-year term, in February 2013. She also served as honorary Vice-President of the American Public Health Association. On 27 September 2017, Etienne was re-elected for a second five-year term as Director of PAHO by the Member States of the organization. On 23 January 2018 the WHO Executive Board appointed her for a second term as WHO Regional Director for Americas.

Death

Etienne died in the United States on 1 December 2023, at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etienne, Carissa 1952 births 2023 deaths Alumni of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Caribbean public health doctors Caribbean women physicians Dominica officials of the United Nations University of the West Indies alumni Women public health doctors World Health Organization officials 21st-century Dominica women