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The Healthy Caribbean Coalition

July 29th - August 4th 2017

Feature

Childhood Obesity Prevention

Childhood Obesity
Barbados Advocate - The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) has signed a Letter of Agreement with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), aimed at strengthening the civil society contribution to the multi-sectoral response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean, with a focus on childhood obesity prevention.

Through this Letter of Agreement, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition will develop regional civil society-led advocacy campaigns in support of taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and unhealthy foods; and the banning on the sale and promotion of unhealthy foods and beverages in the region’s schools.

This work forms a major part of HCC’s Civil Society Action Plan for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity in the Caribbean, which will be released next month. It also follows previous calls from HCC President, Sir Trevor Hassell on Caribbean Wellness Day last year, for legislation to ban the marketing of fast foods and junk foods in Caribbean schools, against the background of unacceptably high rates of overweight and obesity amongst children. The Healthy Caribbean Coalition has also called on Caribbean regional governments to urgently enact policies and legislation, that provide healthy environments for healthy children.
More on Childhood Obesity on the HCC Website:
Stop Childhood Obesity
The Barbados Government has also set a target to reduce childhood obesity. Next year 2019 is the date the Ministry of Health has set to achieve a reduction in childhood obesity with a target of five per cent.This was revealed by the Acting Senior Medical Officer, Dr. Ingrid Cumberbatch who delivered a presentation on ‘Barbados – Childhood Obesity Prevention Programme’ at the Ministry of Social Care recently.
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Childhood Obesity continues to be global problem, recent information released in the UK shows some alarming statistics relating to the 'ticking time bomb' of childhood obesity.

Some 621 children and young people under 25 received care for Type 2 diabetes in paediatric diabetic units in Wales and England in 2015/16, of which 78.5% were also obese.

Fifteen children with the condition were aged between five and nine last year.

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News

Jamaica Minister of Health Dr. Tufton ‘Walks The Talk’ in Promoting Healthy Lifestyle

Jamaica Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton
‘Minister Moves’, ‘Dr. Fit Tufton’ and ‘Minister of Fitness’ are just some of the names ascribed to Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, who is credited as being a Minister who ‘walks the talk’ in the lifestyle habits he advocates.

Dr. Tufton, who launched the ‘Jamaica Moves’ campaign in April, tells JIS News that he has always been interested in health and fitness.

“I used to exercise, but not as much as I do now,” he notes. However, he says that since becoming Health Minister, he is even more mindful of how a healthy diet and exercise can impact overall health and transform the country’s public health sector.
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Online Consultation on Draft of WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity

Online Consultation on Draft of WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity
Further to the decision of the 140th session of the Executive Board to request the WHO Director-General to develop a draft global action plan to promote physical activity, the WHO Secretariat is hosting an open web-based consultation on a first draft from 1 August 2017 to 22 September 2017. Member States, UN organizations and non-State actors are invited to submit their comments by email to gappa@who.int. All contributions received will be published on the WHO website.
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Tobacco Endgame is Critical 'Cog in the Wheel' for Dustainable Development

Tobacco endgame is critical
Although governments have promised sustainable development by 2030 by adopting UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), tobacco-triggered pandemics threaten to stall or even reverse the progress made.

Tobacco is a major risk factor of killer noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardio-vascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, among others. In addition to devastating health, tobacco is also linked to poverty, hunger, adverse environment impact, catastrophic economic impact, and stalling human development.
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PAHO-WHO Hosts Ministerial Briefing on ‘Health in All Policies’ in the Bahamas

PAHO-WHO Hosts Ministerial Briefing on ‘Health in All Policies’ in the Bahamas
The Country Office of the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands and the Ministry of Health of The Bahamas co-hosted a recent briefing meeting for newly elected government ministers on the impact of public policies on population health.

In her address, Dr. Esther de Gourville (PAHO/WHO Country Representative) stated that PAHO/WHO began its collaboration with The Bahamas on health development in 1974. Dr. de Gourville used the example of trends in NCDs to advocate for a “Health in all Policies” or “whole of government approach” to policy development and implementation. NCDs now account for more than seven out of every 10 deaths and are the major drivers of escalating health care costs in The Bahamas.

A survey conducted in The Bahamas in 2012 showed that over 95 percent of young adults between the ages of 25 and 45 had one or more of the risk factors for NCDs.
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A Food Policy Worthy of the Name: Are Healthy Food and Trade Compatible?

A food policy worthy of the name: are healthy food and trade compatible?
Diet is the foremost risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs): the average European consumes too much sugar, too much saturated fat, and too much salt. The share of Europeans who are overweight or obese has steadily increased between 2010 and 2014 in all EU countries. As such, the multitude of overlapping initiatives and policies that govern Europe’s food – from agriculture policy, to marketing rules, and trade deals – have a considerable impact on health, and the increase in NCDs.

Current trade policy tends to encourage an export-led agriculture system, resulting in lower prices, but also promoting a yield maximisation approach which takes less account of the types, and nutritional quality of the food produced. The link between trade and NCDs goes deeper: a correlation between the rise in overweight and obesity and a country’s integration into globalised food supply chains has been observed. By altering the local availability, nutritional quality, and relative affordability of foods, these changes affect population diets and raise increasing concerns about the rise of obesity and NCDs.
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New Research By Action on Sugar Reveals Cereal Manufacturers Are Deliberately Deceiving Shoppers By Using Poor Nutrition Labelling

Deliberately Deceiving Shoppers By Using Poor Nutrition Labelling
Leading sugar and health expert group Action on Sugar, based at Queen Mary University of London, is calling for colour-coded ‘traffic light’ front of pack (FOP) nutrition labelling to be introduced across ALL food and drink products after exposing many perceived ‘healthy’ cereal brands who have failed to include the Department of Health endorsed colour-coded labelling – despite some products containing high levels of sugar which would equate to a red label.
FOP traffic lights
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Spoonful of sugar
Back in February of this year the Healthy Caribbean Coalition was intrigued to see how the imported branded cereals presently consumed in Barbados compared. Shockingly, the cereal products consumed in Barbados are among the most sugar-packed in global comparison. Over half of the cereals surveyed classed as “high sugar” cereals (over 22.5g of sugar per 100g of cereal); for children under 4 years of age, the recommended “free” sugar allowance of less than 5 percent of daily calorie intake is instantly blown with only one bowl of cereal for breakfast (WHO, 2015). Read the full report here.

Sweet Multi-buys Trigger Sugar Warning

Sweet multi-buys trigger sugar warning
Scots buy junk food containing 110 tonnes of sugar a day on special offer deals, Cancer Research UK has said.

The charity said that equated to 4.3 million chocolate bars or three million cans of cola.

It has called for new laws to limit promotions of sugar-rich junk food, which it said accounted for about 40% of food expenditure in Scottish homes.
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Cervical Cancer Prevention Webinars

Cervical Cancer Prevention Webinars
Two options: Wednesday, September 6 or Thursday, September 14

Join a panel of international experts for a 90-minute, animated discussion of the state-of-the-art of cervical cancer prevention in low-resource settings. These two webinars celebrate the publication of a new Supplement to the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, available here.

Wednesday, September 6
Convenient for Asia, and for Europe and Africa in the morning, 06:00 London / 8:00 Kampala / 10:30 Delhi / 13:00 Beijing / 22:00 (Sept. 5) Seattle. Featuring Dr. Dan Murokora, Dr. Partha Basu, Dr. Vivien Tsu, and Scott Wittet (moderator).
Register for September 6 webinar

Thursday, September 14
Convenient for the Americas and for Europe and Africa in the afternoon 07:00 Seattle / 15:00 London / 16:00 Lusaka Featuring Dr. Gina Ogilvie, Dr. Sharon Kapambwe, Dr. Ophira Ginsberg, and Scott Wittet (moderator). 
Register for September 14 webinar
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CALLING ALL CARIBBEAN CANCER ORGANISATIONS
The HCC will be working with the American Cancer Society’s Global Prevent20 initiative to mobilise Caribbean Cancer societies around tobacco control.
Find out more
Prevent20


If your organisation is interested please contact us at hcc@healthycaribbean.org.
NCD Alliance Webinar

NCD Alliance Webinar

Tuesday 22nd August from 10:00 - 11:30 EDT/16:00 - 17:30 CET. The powerpoint slides and recording will be made available on the NCD Alliance website after the webinar. The webinar will discuss:
  • Global Action Plan on Physical Activity
  • WHO Global Conference on NCDs and 2018 HLM
  • WHO Regional Committee Meetings
  • Global NCD Alliance Forum
  • Updates from New York: HLPF and UNGA
You may submit questions prior to the webinar by emailing info@ncdalliance.org, Participants will also be able to send questions and feedback during the webinar. 
Register

Urgent Need to Strengthen and Expand Screening and Other Cancer Control Programs in the CARICOM Caribbean

Cancer Causes & Control
A paper written by Renee A. Franklin & Donald T. Simeon from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago has recently been published in the online journal Cancer Causes & Control.

With high mortality in breast, cervical, prostate, and colorectal cancers in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, the paper examines cancer control initiatives including screening as well as the implementation of relevant international and regional mandates.
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PAHO: Job Opportunity: Advisor, Diabetes Prevention and Control

Job Opportunity: Advisor, Diabetes Prevention and Control

Job opportunity in the PAHO NCD program in Washington, DC - Advisor, Diabetes Prevention and Control.

The contract is for two years (first year probationary period), the closing date for applications is August 16, 2017.
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HCC Publications

The Implementation of Taxation on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages by the Government of Barbados
HCC/NCD Alliance Policy Brief: A Closer Look: The Implementation of Taxation on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages by the Government of Barbados 
Read/download
Sugar in the Caribbean Infographics
Sugar in the Caribbean Infographics 
Read/download
See All HCC Publications

World Heart Day 29 September 2017 

Share the Power
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AC3 Conference 2017

AC3 Conference 2017
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WHO Global Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases

Enhancing policy coherence between different spheres of policy making that have a bearing on attaining SDG target 3.4 on NCDs by 2030. Montevideo, Uruguay, 18-20 October 2017
WHO Global Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases
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IDF Congress 2017
The global diabetes community will again unite at the IDF 2017 Congress in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on 4-8 December 2017. The event will include more than 200 speakers, both world-renowned and newcomers, 230 national diabetes associations from 170 countries and high level participation from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and other health organisations.
Read more

World Cancer Conference 2018

World Cancer Conference 2018
  • The five thematic tracks that will outline the 2018 Congress programme.
  • What is new?
  • Patient Group Pavilion Programme – call for best practice sharing
Read more
NCD Alliance Newsletter
  • Consultation open on outcome document for WHO Global Conference on NCDs
  • Draft Global Action Plan on Physical Activity now online 
  • Second National Civil Society Consultation on NCDs in India  
  • Our Views, Our Voices - update on community consultations 
  • 2018 World Cancer Congress - call for submissions 
Read more
Be HCC Social
Please Follow Us and Our Members on Social Media
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If you want to share your organisations social media details in our roundup please let us know hcc@healthycaribbean.org.
HCC News Roundup Archive - If you have missed any of our News Roundups you can view previous Roundups on our News Roundup Archive webpage here.
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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 65 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
The work of HCC would not be possible without core funding from Sagicor Life Inc
Sagicor Life Inc.
The HCC promote the work of civil society throughout the Caribbean in a variety of ways including sharing of their materials, this is not an endorsement of their materials or messages. The information contained in this newsletter is for general information purposes only, we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct but any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. Through this newsletter you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the HCC. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Copyright © 2017 Healthy Caribbean Coalition, All rights reserved.


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