 After months of strategic planning, discussion and sensitization, the Government of St. Lucia launched Phase 1 of universal health coverage, Maternal and Child Health Services. The event was spearheaded by the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs on Thursday June 1st at Constitution Park in Castries. Delivering the welcome remarks was Director of Universal Health Coverage, Dr. Alicia Eugene Ford. Over the past years, they have been growing concerns over the increase in our infant mortality rate in St. Lucia. Infant mortality rate is also associated with the health status of the mother and is often an indicator of how well the health system in a country is performing. Though there have been marked improvements over the years, there is still room for improvement. Universal health coverage will allow this improvement. Women are currently able to access maternal and child health services at our primary healthcare centres with no out-of-cost spending. However, laboratory and ultrasound services, which are essential in monitoring the well-being of both mother and infant, will not often. These services have to be paid for by the pregnant mothers or their families. Today, this will no longer be a challenge for pregnant women. They will have access to improved antenatal and postnatal care alongside accessibility to laboratory and ultrasound services through the wellness centres. The services available to pregnant women vary from prenatal and postnatal care to pediatric specialist care. According to officials, complications are experienced within a small number of pregnancies, and while that may be the case, the services being rendered through UHC Phase 1 still play a major role. Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the OKEU Hospital, Dr. Lucila Charles, said a wide cross-section of women still cannot afford these necessary services. Because it takes so much money, some pregnant ladies do not do the test. Sometimes they don't even go for the free healthcare. There are reasons behind that. We know there are socially reasons. Not every pregnancy is welcomed. But then we are encouraging persons to go to the health centre and in addition to that, doing your test. And for those who are unable to afford, guess what? It's for free. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sharon Belmar-George noted some grim statistics in relation to birth rates on the island. Data dating back to 2014 should poor maternal and newborn outcomes. The Ministry of Health would move on to request an audit, which would result in the implementation of a number of recommendations and better results by the year 2020. One of the important recommendations, I spoke of the audit, but I wanted to highlight one of the very important recommendations that was made by that perinatal audit in 2014. On a national level was the need for pregnant women to have universal access to laboratory and ultrasound services, which is being provided now. I feel confident that this new intervention would definitely strengthen our maternal and child health programme, ensuring healthy newborns and mothers, but that we also ensure that we maintain the UN's sustainable development goals of maternal mortality of less than 70 per 100,000 life buffs and less than 12 per thousand life buffs per neonatal mortality. This will also support our goal towards the declaration of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis in St. Lucia. Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health Wellness and Elderly Affairs, Ms. Jenny Daniel said the launch serves as part of major reforms being made with the island's health sector. The Ministry of Health through the UHC project unit is currently engaged with our World Bank partners and the Ministry of Finance to develop appropriate systems of governance within our health, primary health care system that would enhance service provision. In this slide, we are examining unexplored territory, including the potential restructuring of the governance structure within the primary health care in order to increase the level of autonomy and that would enhance the efficiencies of service delivery, particularly as it pertains to the procurement of medical supplies and the monitoring of quality of service. Minister for Health Honourable Moses Jabatist considered the implementation of UHC a national priority and the dream come true for St. Lucia. What we are building is a team, a team which is dedicated to putting our people first and causing health care reform to advance and advance very quickly. This is not an end in it all. Every speaker has said so. This is a step. We are not saying today that we have universal health coverage everywhere. We are saying that we are taking definite steps. We are saying we are going to review draft legislation on universal health coverage which has been drafted for a while. We are saying that we are taking action, concrete action so that the people of St. Lucia can get the benefits of our promises. From the Communications Department of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, I am Jeet Brown.