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HCC Receive UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF) Award for Civil Society Action on NCDs
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HCC President Sir Trevor Hassell, will be in New York this week at the United Nations General Assembly to accept the UNIATF award in recognition of their outstanding contribution to multisectoral action in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the NCD-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Board of Directors of the HCC, would like to thank the NCD Alliance for their continued support and acknowledge that this award is truly a recognition of the work of the HCC as a collective of over 100 health and non-health CSOs working in CARICOM to reduce NCDs and improve the lives of those living with NCDs. This award is an affirmation of the value of the work we do together as a dynamic and diverse multistakeholder team lead by civil society. Thank you.
See below coverage from NCD Alliance which provides more details and information on the other civil society winner, Mexico Salud-Hable Coalition (Salud-Hable), to whom HCC extends congratulations.
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NCD Alliance: The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) along with the Mexico Salud-Hable Coalition (Salud-Hable) have been announced as recipients of the UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF) Awards 2019 in recognition of their outstanding contribution to multisectoral action in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the NCD-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The UNIATF award, is traditionally given to government agencies, but for the first time in 2019 opened to nominations from non-state actors. Nominated by the NCD Alliance, both organisations are recognised for their outstanding multisectoral work in the prevention and control of NCDs.
HCC will be awarded thanks to their regional advocacy work towards the 2018 United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs. One key initiative was their strategic advocacy campaign that led Heads of Governments in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to adopt a guide with regional advocacy priorities for the HLM Political Declaration, based on the NCD Alliance’s campaign priorities. CARICOM also agreed to many of the ‘asks’ of civil society and acknowledged their central role in the regional NCD response.
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UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), September 23rd, 2019
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This September 2019, the United Nations General Assembly will meet for the first UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), where Heads of State and Government will come together in New York to discuss how to accelerate progress towards achieving UHC by 2030. The one-day meeting will be held on Monday 23 September, and will consist of two multi-stakeholder panels and a plenary segment during which countries will share their experiences and commitment to achieving UHC. The concept of UHC is firmly rooted in the principle that the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is a fundamental human right. Defined as a situation where all people, everywhere, can access quality health services without incurring financial hardship, UHC is the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer, and vital for sustainable human development.
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HCC Technical Brief and Eight Advocacy Priorities
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HCC Technical Brief: First United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage: Technical Brief for CARICOM Countries - A Contribution from Civil Society.
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HCC Advocacy Priorities for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage.
Read/download
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HCC Eight UHC Advocacy Priorities - Social Media Graphics
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The UN Climate Action Summit - CARICOM NCD Advocates Take Note
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The United Nations Climate Action Summit is September 23, 2019. The ever increasing reminders of the vulnerabilities of small developing states such as ours in the Caribbean to the climate events like the intensified ‘Dorians' - underscore the urgency of connecting our voices to those in the climate change community. Dr. James Hospedales, past Executive Director of CARPHA, and HCC Special Advisor, has written a number of articles exploring the nexus between climate change and NCDs.
- Hospedales, C James. At the intersection of climate and health. For Charlevoix, G7 Summit.
- Hospedales C James, Harris T. Non communicable diseases and climate change: Two sides of the same coin for SIDS. For Buenos Aires G20 Summit 2018.
- Hospedales J. Controlling Climate Change for Human Health. For G20 Osaka Summit, June 2019.
- Hospedales C James. Enhancing Health and the Climate Together in the Caribbean and the World: For G7 Biarritz, Aug 2019.
- C James Hospedales. Leaders in Health: In Health: A political choice. Delivering on Universal Health Coverage 2030. Eds. I Kickbusch, J Kirton. GT Media Publishers June 2019.
- Caribbean Public Health Agency. State of Public Health in the Caribbean Report 2017-2018 Climate and Health: Averting and Responding to an Unfolding Health Crisis. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: CARPHA; 2018.
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HCC's advocacy Priority #7 from the the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting (HLM3)
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HCC's advocacy priority Ask #2, for the UN High-Level meeting, 2019 (HLM-UHC)
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The HCC recognised the importance of strengthening our health systems to withstand these climate shocks in our HLM3 Advocacy Priorities and we have underscored this again in our UHC Advocacy priorities for this week’s HLM-UHC. However it is unfortunate that these two important UN High Level Meetings - Climate Change and Universal Health Coverage - are taking place on the same day, forcing the often small delegations of those countries most affected (SIDS/LMICs) to choose between climate change and UHC. This mixed messaging at the global level is echoed regionally, where the CARICOM meeting of Ministers of Health (COHSOD) is scheduled to overlap with the Samoa Pathway High Level Midterm Review, 2019 on September 27, 2019 and thus Health Ministers may potentially miss out on this important opportunity to take stock of NCD progress within the context of our unique vulnerabilities as SIDS on the frontlines of climate change.
HCC will aim to track key messages emerging from the various NCD and climate change meetings occurring over the next week. Watch this space for next steps, as we seek to broaden our advocacy efforts to address the critical interlinkages between climate change and NCDs. |
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NCD Alliance Open Letter to Heads of State and Government on Health for All
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NCD Alliance: An Open Letter to Heads of State and Government calling on leaders to now move beyond promises made at High-Level Meetings, to meaningful progress on Health for All, highlighting specific priorities and areas requiring concerted and urgent action, is now live. While the letter is published ahead of the HLM on UHC, the messages will remain relevant beyond the HLM as we advocate greater momentum and traction toward delivering healthier lives for all people. The Open Letter has been signed by over 130 national and global civil society organisations.
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Walk the Talk New York: The Health for All Challenge
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WHO is co-organizing the event with the City of New York and the United Nations, in conjunction with a wide range of partners
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WHO and partners will Walk the Talk in New York on Sunday, 22 September 2019, when they stage the first edition of the Health for All Challenge. This walk/run event will be a celebration of health and held on the eve of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly and the High-level Meeting on universal health coverage.The event, being held in Central Park, will demonstrate the importance of ensuring all people can access the care they need to lead the healthiest possible lives.
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The Caribbean Moves programme has been invited to partner with the World Health Organization in the New York staging of Walk The Talk. This event, which will be held on the eve of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly and High- Level meeting on universal health coverage, brings together partners and the public to promote healthy lifestyles and the need for access to health for people all around the globe.
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Walk the Talk 2019 Caribbean participants including, Sir Trevor Hassell, HCC President (second left), Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, Health Minister for Jamaica (fourth from left) and Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director of CARPHA (right)
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NCD Alliance: Waking Up and Walking the Talk on NCDs
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NCD Alliance Mini-film calling for urgent action to prevent and control noncommunicable diseases. It highlights solutions to tackle the NCD epidemic and help deliver health for all. Produced by BBC StoryWorks for NCDA and filmed in May 2019 in Geneva.
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Planetary Health Dialogue: Triple Wins for Health, Environment & Sustainable Development
Wednesday, 25 September 2019 | 18:00 - 20:00
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In order to deliver on the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, siloed approaches must be abandoned in favor of integrated initiatives that result in benefits for health, environment, and sustainable development.
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The health sector has learned some important lessons in the battle to save lives from the tobacco epidemic, which may be transferable to the fight against pollutants as a major global risk factor for planetary health.
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CARICOM Civil Society Says ENOUGH to Slow Pace on Childhood Obesity and Applauds Jamaica and Bermuda for ‘Walking the Talk’
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Participants at the HCC meeting - Accelerating Nutrition Policies In in The Caribbean -
Creating Supportive Environments for Healthy Children
(Photo: MarNiko Media)
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HCC hosted a successful meeting on Sep 17-18, 2019 bringing together over 110 NCD voices from the Caribbean and globally to discuss concrete steps to accelerate nutrition policies for the creation of healthier environments for children. The meeting was HCC’s most diverse to date, bringing together a wide cross section of stakeholders from across health and non-health government ministries, and actors from within the health CSO community and non-health CSOs, regional partners, and critically, a significant grouping of youth voices including school aged children. Ministers of Health and Wellness, Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, and Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Barbados and Leader of Government Business, Hon. Santia Bradshaw - provided strong opening remarks further underscoring the political support and commitment to address overweight and obesity in children.
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HCC Walk the Talk Awards
The 2-day meeting was kicked off with the HCC ‘Walk the Talk’ Awards. This is a new initiative of the HCC aimed at recognising excellence in NCD prevention and control. This inaugural year focussed on childhood obesity prevention. The two awardees - Bermuda Multisectoral Team and the Team Jamaica - demonstrated tremendous leadership nationally, regionally and globally through the implementation of obesity prevention legislation and the formation of a social movement across the region in support of NCD prevention.
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The Bermuda Multisectoral Team in recognition of outstanding legislative action to reduce the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Bermuda through the implementation of a 75% tax on SSBs.
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Ms. Sara Bosch de Noya, Registered Dietitian, Diabetes Educator at the Bermuda Diabetes Association (centre), receives the HCC ‘Walk the Talk’ award on behalf of the Bermuda Multisectoral Team, from Hon. Minister Jeffrey Bostic (left), with Mrs. Heather Hollis, Senior Customs Officer, HM Customs Department, Bermuda looking on (Photo: MarNiko Media)
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Team Jamaica led by the Minister of Health & Wellness, Jamaica in recognition of outstanding leadership in creating a Healthy Caribbean Mass Movement - Caribbean Moves
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Dr. Simone Spence, Actg. Director Health Promotion & Protection Branch, Ministry of Health and Wellness, Jamaica (right), receives the HCC ‘Walk the Talk’ award on behalf of Team Jamaica, from Hon. Minister Santia Bradshaw (Photo: MarNiko Media)
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More about the awards click here.
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Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) Is Urging the Ministry to Ignore Warnings From Carreras
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(Photo: Pixabay)
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Days after Carreras Limited, Jamaica's sole licensed distributor of cigarettes, warned that pending tobacco regulations being planned by the Ministry of Health and Wellness could seriously affect the legal cigarette trade, the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) is urging the ministry to push ahead with its proposals.
According to the JCTC, it fully supports the ministry's plan to enact stiffer tobacco control legislation in Jamaica.
“Comprehensive legislation will, among other things, prohibit all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, sales of tobacco products to minors, and increase taxes on tobacco products, all of which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the entire population,” said the JCTC as it dismissed the warning from Carreras.
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Caribbean Wellness Day 2019
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On Saturday 14th September, countries across the Region celebrated Caribbean Wellness Day. The annual event is geared at increasing awareness and promoting activities to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are recognised as a threat to one’s wellbeing, and continue to severely impact the health, economy and development of Caribbean countries and territories.
CARPHA: A message from the Executive Director of CARPHA Dr. Joy St. John
Healthy ageing is important to all of us at every stage of our lives. While healthy ageing starts at birth, and is influenced by genetics, a large percentage of our interactions with our physical and social environments, can shape our behaviours and experiences across our life course.
For this reason, Caribbean Wellness Day 2019 focuses on improving the quality of life of the ageing population, with the slogan, Healthy Ageing Starts Now.
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PAHO Wellness Week 2019 “Building healthy schools.”
14 to 21 September 2019
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Wellness Week 2019: Barbados + Dominica + Suriname
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The slogan for WW2019 is “Building healthy schools”. Through highlighting healthy schools for everyone, Wellness Week seeks to work towards universal health by promoting health in schools such that students, parents, and their communities are able to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
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September is World Alzheimer's Month
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World Alzheimer's Month and September 21st was World Alzheimer's Day, the theme this year is breaking the stigma, families affected by dementia are facing an illness that’s often frightening and debilitating. They shouldn’t also have to deal with ignorance, thoughtlessness and cruelty from the people around them. Dementia isn’t a joke – and people affected by it deserve to be treated with understanding and respect.
World Alzheimer's Month is the international campaign by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) every September to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that surrounds dementia. World Alzheimer's Month was launched in 2012. World Alzheimer's Day is on 21 September each year.
2 out of every 3 people globally believe there is little or no understanding of dementia in their countries. The impact of World Alzheimer's Month is growing, but the stigmatisation and misinformation that surrounds dementia remains a global problem that requires global action. |
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STRiDE Jamaica (Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries) events taking place for World Alzheimer's Month can be found here.
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Jamaica Government to Review Laws That Support Breastfeeding
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Public Health Nurse, Debbion Pinnock Harvey, delivering a message from Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, at the Westmoreland Public Health Services ‘Breastfeeding March and Road Show’ (Photo: Okoye Henry)
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Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says that stakeholders are being engaged to review and improve national laws that support breastfeeding.
In a message delivered by Public Health Nurse, Debbion Pinnock Harvey, at Westmoreland Public Health Services’ ‘Breastfeeding March and Road Show’ in Darliston on Tuesday September 17, Dr. Tufton noted that the objective is to create a more enabling environment for mothers to breastfeed in order to improve the health of their babies.
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Barbados School Canteens Told ‘Get Healthy’
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Most high school menus consist almost entirely of white potato fries, burgers and fried chicken - key culprits in childhood obesity (Photo: Pixabay)
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Barbados Today: The Ministry of Education is making it mandatory for all school cafeterias to serve only healthy meals or risk not having their contracts renewed – after it was found most high school menus consisted almost entirely of white potato fries, burgers and fried chicken – key culprits in childhood obesity.
The move is intended to ramp up efforts against childhood obesity, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw told the Healthy Caribbean Coalition as it opened a two-day meeting on “supportive environments for accelerated childhood obesity prevention policies” at the Accra Beach Hotel this morning.
The Education Minister said that there had been several draft policies on school menus in the past but there was no enforcement.
She said: “The approach basically is to make it mandatory for persons to have to comply with a lot of the requirements within these documents.
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World Bank Approves US$30.6 Million Project to Build Resilience of Public Health Systems in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States
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(Photo: Pixabay)
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The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved today a US$30.6 million regional health project to improve regional coordination and resilience for public health emergencies and extreme weather events in four member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The OECS Regional Health Project will help improve climate resilience of select health facilities in Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The project will also strengthen the capacity of health systems in the OECS region to ensure continuity of services following an extreme weather event, boost national and regional disease surveillance systems to detect and respond to infectious diseases more rapidly, strengthen regional emergency coordinating mechanisms, and support an immediate response to select public health emergencies.
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HCC's advocacy Priority #7 from the the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting (HLM3)
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HCC's advocacy priority Ask #2, for the UN High-Level meeting, 2019 (HLM-UHC)
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Students for Better Health
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L to R: Springer Memorial Secondary School students Christina Singh, Kimico Worrell-Griffith, Regina Jackman, Ryanna Grant, Alana Cumberbatch and Sh’kai Clarke showing their offerings at the Small Business Association’s youth forum and showcase (Photo: Lennox Devonish)
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Barbados Nation News: In an effort to help reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, a group of 4th and 5th form students of Springer Memorial Secondary School have developed a food business offering healthy fruit snacks.
Spokesperson Christina Singh said that if fruits were presented in ways that appealed to children, they would be more inclined to eat them.
Their display was one of many at the Small Business Association’s youth forum and showcase held at the Savannah Hotel, Hastings, Christ Church, yesterday.
The Springer girls served fruits in cups and on kebabs, and also made refreshing smoothies.
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HCC Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies
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We have created social media graphics to campaign for the implementation of our Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies. The graphics can be downloaded here. |
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Barbados Ministry of Health and Wellness Warns of Vaping Risks
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(Photo: Pixabay)
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Loop News: The Ministry of Health and Wellness has warned Barbadians about the dangers of vaping, particularly on the heels of reports of an outbreak of severe respiratory illnesses associated with the practice in the United States.
In a statement issued today, the Ministry said that the cause of the outbreak, which has so far resulted in six deaths, was still not entirely clear, but investigations were ongoing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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Bloomberg Philanthropies Launches New $160 Million Program to End the Youth E-Cigarette Epidemic
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Bloomberg: More than 3.6 million U.S. kids use e-cigarettes, including 1 in 5 high school students; 97 percent of kids who use e-cigarettes use flavored varieties. New initiative launches on heels of 33 states investigating more than 450 cases of lung illnesses associated with vaping, many of which involve teens and young adults.
In response to alarming levels of e-cigarette use among youth in the United States - including a 78 percent increase among high school students in just one year - Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced the creation of a new $160 million initiative to end the youth e-cigarette epidemic.
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Want to Live Longer? You May Want to Ditch These Drinks
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(Photo: Pixabay)
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CNN: Brace yourself, lovers of diet sodas and sugary drinks. It's more bad news and yet another reason to consider ditching your favorite soda or soft drink.
A new study followed more than 450,000 people from 10 European countries for up to 19 years and found those who drank two or more glasses of any type of soda a day had a higher risk of dying from any cause of death than people who drank less than a glass each month. None of the people had cancer, diabetes, heart disease or stroke before their participation.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, found men and women who drank two or more glasses a day of sugar-sweetened soft drinks had a higher risk of dying from digestive disorders, while those who drank the same amount of diet drinks had higher risks of dying from cardiovascular disease.
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In this edition:
- NCDA members receive UNIATF awards for civil society action on NCDs
- UNGA74 is in one week! Check out all the key NCD information
- Attending UNGA? Join us for a planetary health dialogue
- Join Walk the Talk - The Health for All Challenge this Sunday
- Scaling up action on NCDs in the South-East Asia region
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Please Help to Monitor the Health of Caribbean Schools
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My Healthy Caribbean School (MHCS) is an initiative of the HCC which provides students, teachers and parents with the opportunity to monitor the school environment with a focus on nutrition and physical activity.
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Key Messages From Our Publications
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NCDs - Context and Situation Summary
Taken from: First United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage: Technical Brief for CARICOM Countries – A Contribution from Civil Society
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Reversing The Trend Of Late Stage Cancer
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CARD 2018: Youth: Let’s Talk About Alcohol
A set of infographics and social media graphics
Read more
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Caribbean Fruit and Vegetable Infographics - guidance on serving sizes for common Caribbean fruits and vegetables
Read more
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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.
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We value the protection and confidentiality of your personal data and we are committed to respecting your privacy. We therefore comply with the applicable data privacy legislation in relation to processing personal data. Our Privacy Policy.
You are receiving this email because you have previously expressed an interest in our work. If you no longer wish to receive information from us, please unsubscribe or you can always update your preferences at any time.
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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
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The work of HCC would not be possible without core funding from Sagicor Life Inc
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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.
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