The Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, the Hon.
Patrick Manning, will host a meeting of the Heads of
Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) next
week to launch a watershed regional campaign against
chronic diseases.
The one-day summit, being organised by the
CARICOM Secretariat in partnership with the Pan
American Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), will be
held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Port of Spain on
Saturday September 15, beginning at 9.00 a.m.
In addition to Prime Minister Manning, the
conference will be addressed by the Chairman of
CARICOM, the Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of
Barbados; CARICOM Head of Government with
responsibility for Health (including HIV/AIDS) and
Human Resource Development, the Hon. Dr Denzil
Douglas, Prime Minister of St Kitts & Nevis; and the
Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr Edwin Carrington.
Their call will be for regional unity to stop the
epidemic of chronic non-communicable lifestyle
diseases, which account for more than half the
incidence of death and disease in the CARICOM
region.
The targeted disorders include cardiovascular
diseases (high blood pressure, coronary heart
diseases and stroke), diabetes and some forms of
cancer. Among the risk factors identified are
obesity, unhealthy food choices, physical
inactivity, high cholesterol and tobacco use.
The assault on chronic diseases comes in the wake
of the recommendations of a Caribbean Commission on
Health and Development (CCHD), established by the
CARICOM Heads of Government in 2003. The CCHD grew
out of a task force appointed in 2001 to formulate a
blueprint of strategies to give effect to a
declaration by the Heads of Government that “The
Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region”.
The CCHD, as well as reasserting the need for
better food choices and greater physical activity on
the part of Caribbean populations, advocated public
policy measures by Caribbean Governments to modulate
the environment, closer regulation of food imports
and licensing laws to ensure that consumers know the
contents of the foods they eat and that food
security is pursued in the context of incentives for
local production of the fruits, vegetables and whole
grains required for a healthy diet.
3 September, 2007
Contact:
Clare Forrester
antoye@yahoo.com
Tel.: (876) 331-8992
cc:
piu@caricom.org ,
piucaricom@yahoo.com ,
dcampbell@caricom.org
