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The Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation and the Environment congratulates Dr. Kamaria De Castro on being appointed as Chief Medical Officer effective November 2nd, 2023.

Dr. De Castro, a woman of the soil, comes to the position with a wealth of knowledge in the medical field. She graduated with top honours from the Faculty of Medical Sciences Ernesto Che Guevara, Superior Institute of Medical Sciences, Havana, Cuba in 2007 and subsequently completed the medical internship programme at the May Pen Hospital in Jamaica.

She returned to Antigua and Barbuda where she worked as a house officer at the Mount St John’s Medical Center (now the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center) from 2010-2011. Dr. De Castro has a passion for primary health care services and in the interim, worked as a Medical Officer within the private sector.

By 2014, Dr De Castro joined the Ministry of Health as a Medical Officer at the inaugural evening clinic at the All Saints and Grays Farm Health Centers.

Dr. De Castro’s love for teaching lead her to become an adjunct faculty member at the American University of Antigua in the Introduction to Clinical Medicine Department. She also served as Medical Director at the University Park Health Center.

Dr. De Castro pursued a doctoral degree in Internal Medicine at the University of the West Indies Mona campus which culminated in December 2018. During her training, she took part in abstract writing workshops and coauthored a publication, the West Indian Medical Journal.

She spent an elective year at the University Hospital, Jamaica; Mount St John’s Medical Center; and the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada and upon her return home, her enthusiasm about public health and healthcare services offered under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, caused her to renew her commitment to enhancing the patient experience and quality of care offered to a diverse population.

She worked as a consultant specialist in Internal Medicine in primary healthcare services at the polyclinics across Antigua and Barbuda. Dr. De Castro is Antigua and Barbuda’s focal point for the HEARTS Initiative in the Americas of PAHO/WHO. This initiative involves hypertension control in the primary care setting.

She has professional affiliations with several organizations to include serving as Vice President of the Sickle Cell Association of Antigua and Barbuda and the Medical Association of Antigua and Barbuda. She is a member of the American College of Physicians (ACP) as well as the Medical Protection Society.