When tens of thousands of cricket fans descended on six Caribbean nations for the 2024 Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) was ready. Working across 26 small-island member states with limited health resources and tourism-dependent economies, CARPHA deployed a real-time surveillance system at stadiums throughout the tournament
On-site teams used tablets to log potential cases instantly, feeding data into dashboards monitored by national epidemiologists and chief medical officers across the region. The system worked. Across 55 matches, CARPHA detected 146 potential cases and identified 17 of concern. Not one resulted in documented spread of disease. Rapid detection and coordinated response kept spectators safe and local health systems protected.
Building on this success, CARPHA has since expanded the system to other mass gatherings, including Carnival, music festivals and agricultural trade shows. Resolve to Save Lives supported CARPHA’s engagement with the 7-1-7 Alliance, which helped the agency develop rapid detection and response targets tailored to the Caribbean context. The result was a stronger, faster regional early warning system, and a model that other regions can follow.
Watch the video and read the full story in our latest Epidemics That Didn’t Happen report.
