Doreen Paul

Doreen Paul was a banker who became a politician and was best known for her contributions to improving the healthcare system in Dominica. Born in 1962 in the village of Layou, Paul attended St. Joseph Government School, Convent High School, Dominica Grammar School, and Sixth Form College. Her parents are Isaac and Dorothy James, and she got married to a man named Anthony Paul and they have two children – Anthonio and Nicole.

After graduating in 1983, Paul went into the teaching service before finally getting employment at the National Bank of Dominica. Following a few years in banking, she entered politics in 1990 and contested for the Saint Joseph Parish under the United Workers Party (UWP) in the House of Assembly. When she won the election, she was let go from her bank job and she ultimately took up a position with the Roseau Cooperative Credit Union.

In 1995, Paul won the Saint Joseph seat again for another 5-year term at the House of Assembly. Prime Minister Edison James chose her for a ministerial position and gave her the Health and Social Security portfolio. As Minister of Health and Social Security, Paul facilitated the establishment of healthcare centres in most villages across Dominica. Existing healthcare facilities were also renovated and the minister worked hard to have them equipped to standard quality, while staffs at the centres were made to undergo specialized training.

The minister also facilitated the construction of roads and sports centres in her constituency and had water systems, electricity, and bridges constructed across various communities.

In 1996, she was made chairperson of the Ministers of Health within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and also the president of the Eastern Caribbean Drug Services (ECDS). The ECDS worked to buy pharmaceutical drugs for the region at much lower prices for the benefits of the local peoples. In 1998, Paul organized the first annual conference of OECS Ministers of Health in St. Kitts, and she met with the Director of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, in Geneva in 1999.

She also headed the CARICOM delegation that provided assistance for the Phase Two of the Caribbean Cooperation in Health Initiative. During the 2000 general elections, Paul lost her constituency seat to Vince Henderson and she left politics and returned to the private sector.