Organised by the CARICOM Secretariat in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO)

Objectives

1.    Establish and agree on a regional approach to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and, in this regard, evaluate the Caribbean situation within the global context;

2.     Examine the burden of the main diseases and the evidence for the application of interventions; and

3.     Propose solutions that can be taken at the level of the health sector and those with major policy implications that fall within the purview of Heads of Government.

 Expected Outcomes

1.     Clear appreciation of the real and present problem posed by the Non-Communicable Diseases in the Caribbean in terms of health and development;

2.     Clear understanding of the modifiable risk factors for the Non-Communicable Diseases that can be addressed in the current environment;

3.    Information on the interventions that can be taken to modify those risk factors;

4.     Understanding of the insufficiency of the measures usually taken to modify individual behaviour and a real appreciation of the policy decisions that lie uniquely at the level of Heads of Government that need to be taken to address the problem through application of those interventions and change of the enabling environment; and

5.    Collective decisions on steps to be taken and the monitoring mechanisms necessary for follow up.