Women Deliver’s 4^th Global Conference, taking place 16-19 May 2016, will be the largest gathering on girls’ and women’s health and rights in the last decade and one of the first major global conferences following the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read more

Thanks to the support of the NCD Alliance, HCC represented by Maisha Hutton, Executive Director, will be speaking on Wednesday May 18th in two concurrent sessions: Tackling NCDs: The Key to Improving the Health of Girls and Women; and Non-Communicable Diseases and RMNCAH: Adopting a Common Agenda. Maisha will share on HCC’s experiences in supporting civil society-led advocacy for the health of women and girls within the context of NCDs.

Women Deliver will also be streamed live here.

The images below are from the Opening Ceremony of Women Deliver 2016.

Solutions to women’s cancers in the English Caribbean was the focus of a 2-day sub regional forum held in Miami from May 11-12, 2016.  The meeting was hosted by PAHO, with the support of the PAHO Foundation and together with the Miami Institute for the Americas and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and the Breast Cancer Initiative 2.5.  The PAHO team led by Dr. Silvana Luciani, brought together key partners (including significant HCC partner the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institutes (NCI) responsible for holding a Cancer Control Leadership forum in Barbados in May 2015 with regional partners including PAHO, CARPHA and the HCC) to identify potential areas of collaboration to support countries in the Caribbean to improve the effectiveness of women’s cancer programs.

Civil society was strongly represented at the meeting by the HCC, the Barbados Cancer Society, Belize Cancer Society, Cancer Society of the Bahamas, the Caribbean Gynecologic Cancer Society, the Jamaica Cancer Society, Breast Friends (Antigua), Lobi Foundation (Suriname), the Cancer Institute of Guyana and the Trinidad & Tobago Cancer Society.  Most of the cancer societies present were also members of the Caribbean Cancer Alliance formed in 2013 under the leadership of the HCC. The CCA is an informal alliance of the region’s cancer societies currently being led by the Belize and Jamaica Cancer Societies.  Ministries of Health from 13 countries. The HCC was pleased to have been invited to share the work we have done in partnership with our member organisations including the Belize Cancer society and the Jamaica Cancer Society who also made presentations.  
 
Expected outcomes of the meeting were:

HCC Executive Director, Maisha Hutton, applauded PAHOs continued leadership and support in this area and looks forward to continued collaboration with Dr. Luciani, regional NGOs and international partners organisations keen to expand their work in the Caribbean. For more information on the HCC’s work, and that of the CCA, on cervical and breast cancer in the region please email us at hcc@healthycaribbean.org.

See the meeting resources from the event on the PAHO Website here.

Useful links emerging from the meeting:
American Cancer Society
Breast Cancer Initiative 2.5: BCI2.5 is uniting the global breast cancer community behind a common goal to make breast health a global priority and reduce disparities in breast cancer outcomes for 2.5 million women by 2025. Check out GloBAM.  The Global Breast Health Analytics Map (GloBAM) is an interactive data visualization tool for analyzing the determinants of the global breast cancer burden.
International Cancer Control Partnership: The International Cancer Control Partnership (ICCP) launched its web-based portal on cancer control planning and capacity-building on the occasion of the WCLS in November 2013. The ICCP Portal aims to assemble all the resources necessary for countries to implement their commitments from the Global NCD Framework.  

Voices of Participants
Have a look at some participant perspectives in the videos below.

The Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) commends the Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw, for increasing the excise tax on tobacco products. The increase was announced by Minister Shaw in Parliament on May 12, 2016. The Special Consumption Tax (SCT) per stick will move from $12.00 to $14.00, a 16.6% increase.  The increase shows that the Government of Jamaica continues to be committed to meeting its treaty obligations, under the World Health Organization, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO/FCTC), particularly Article 6, which seeks to use taxation as a price measure to reduce the demand for tobacco products.

See the full JCTC press release here.

See related press articles:
Jamaica Observer here
Jamaica Gleaner here

The HCC congratulates the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control on their behind the scenes work that has been rewarded with the announcement that the SCT on tobacco has been increased.

And while Coke pledges not to use cartoon characters to market Coke to kids—they conveniently exempt their own cartoon polar bears! Coke even exploits kids’ belief in Santa by using him in marketing all over the world.  Despite Coke’s pledge, it’s clear the company wants to imprint its brand name on children’s developing brains and get its drinks into children’s growing stomachs. Read more

Under the theme “Digging Deeper – More Than Meets The Eye” the  conference will bring together a host of local, regional and international health professionals, all key players in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. The 2016 conference will feature core and concurrent sessions with a special focus on Urological issues and Endocrine Issues. Sessions will cover the areas of Paediatric Diabetes, Obesity, Pregnancy, Neuropathy, Medical Management and more along with updates on International Guidelines.  This continuing medical education event will feature a high-level of clinical education involving case-based authentic exercises and blended learning as we incorporate the most up-to-date methods in health education. Sessions will be practical and interactive giving the participant the various evidence-based tools they need to better manage their diabetic and pre-diabetic patient. Read more

The online registration form can be accessed via the following link: Register Now.

The deadline for early registration at USD 449.00 ends on May 23 thereafter the registration fee will be USD 499.00. Conference Flyer

The HCC is a regional network of Caribbean health NGOs and civil society organizations with the remit to combat chronic diseases (NCDs) and their associated risk factors and conditions. Our membership presently consists of more than 50 Caribbean-based health NGOs and over 55 not-for-profit organisations and, in excess of 200 individual members based in the Caribbean and across the globe.

To join the HCC email us at hcc@healthycaribbean.org