Dialogue summary: improving the healthiness of food environments in the Caribbean

The evidence brief on Improving the Healthiness of Food Environments was used as the starting point for the deliberations during the stakeholder dialogue. The evidence brief recognized that the relationship between environmental factors and dietary choices was complex and multifaceted, however, it positioned four issues as the most important to understanding the problem in the Caribbean:Firstly, Caribbean States were identified as net food importing countries with heavy reliance on imports as the main source of food, and this resulted in wide availability and affordability of highly-processed unhealthy foods on the domestic market;Secondly, the surrounding environment faced by some groups, including children, urban populations and the poor made them more susceptible to poor dietary choices.Thirdly, the food choices made in response to macro and micro environmental influences led to a high prevalence of diet-related NCDs which placed heavy direct and indirect cost burdens on Caribbean countries;Finally, the brief noted that despite the range of cost-effective evidence-based policy interventions available to address the various issues related to unhealthy food environments, Caribbean countries faced a number of implementation challenges that constrained their ability to mount a comprehensive response.

Evidence Brief: Improving the Healthiness of Food Environments in the Caribbean

Caribbean countries have a number of issues in common regarding food security: these small open economies have limited agricultural resource bases; their food production is prone to disruption by natural disasters; there is a heavy reliance on imported commodities, as opposed to local food production; and trade liberalization has made relatively cheaper processed energy-dense foods, with high fat, sugar and sodium content, widely available on the domestic market. These factors combined, have resulted in unhealthy food choices and dietary practices among the population and a concomitant increase in the prevalence of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. There is consensus among international agencies and the research community, that in order to promote healthier food environments, governments should launch a holistic response targeting seven areas: food composition; food labelling; food promotion; food provision; food retailing; food prices; and trade and foreign investments in food. The ability of Caribbean governments to implement these measures has, however, been constrained due to the challenges which they face in:1. coordinating decision - making across all State levels—a chieving a whole-of government response; 2. gaining broad participation from all sectors of society—the all-of-society approach; and 3. developing and enacting required legislation. These constraints have stymied implementation of a comprehensive and effective response to diet-related non-communicable disease...

Assessing violence and injury surveillance in the Caribbean

OBJECTIVE: To determine the status of existing violence and injury prevention (VIP) efforts and surveillance systems in the Caribbean. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The Caribbean Public Health Agency undertook a survey to gather evidence of VIP in 24 member Countries. The survey was administered to national epidemiologists and non-communicable disease focal points in October 2015 using an online tool, “Survey Monkey”. Questions were asked about the availability in each country of VIP representative surveys, policies,action plans, laws, victim support services and surveillance systems.RESULTS: Nineteen (79%) countries completed the VIP survey. Only three (16%) countries confirmed having undertaken a nationally representative survey. Twelve (63%) had not developed a national policy and 14 (74%) had not implemented an action plan on VIP. Each country reported the existence of VIP laws and offered victim support services, though average enforcement ranged from 40–79%. Nine (47%) countries indicated using an injury registry and 15 (79%) reported collecting injury data within patient records, mainly from public hospitals. All 19 countries confirmed that records of reported violent incidents were maintained by the police. Unique identifiers were generally lacking in registries and police systems. Only four (44%) countries with registries, ten (67%) countries with inpatient injury data and 12 (63%) countries with police records indicated sharing data with other organizations. CONCLUSION: Each country reported some level of injury surveillance system; however, such systems should be harmonized to produce more complete baseline data. The use of unique identifiers is required to reduce duplication and effectively link surveillance systems.

Evidence brief: preventing interpersonal and self-directed violence and injuries in the Caribbean

The issue of violence and injuries and its status as a major public health problem has gained significant political traction both internationally and within the Caribbean region during the last two decades. Internationally, the momentum began to build across the Americas in 1993 with PAHO resolution CD37.R19 (Violence and Health)(1), and in 1996 when, at the 49th World Health Assembly, resolution 49.25 first helped to establish the issue of violence and injuries as a recognized global health priority. Specifically it urged member states to: 1) assess the problem of violence in their own jurisdictions; and 2) communicate the extent of their problems to the World Health Organization (WHO) with suggestions about solutions.(2) Building on these efforts, in 2002 WHO released the World Report on Violence and Health, which was the first comprehensive review of the problem of violence on a global scale, and helped to further raise the profile of the issue on the agendas of global institutions and several national governments.(3,4) The report also led to the development of the Global Status Report on Violence Prevention, which was published in 2014 with data from 133 countries (including five English-speaking Caribbean countries). (3-5)...

Caribbean Public Health Agency: 60th Annual Scientific Meeting

TO BE ADDED

CHIKUNGUNYA ADVICE TO TRAVELERS

Information for travelers who go to countries with outbreaks of chikungunya fever for take precautions to avoid bites.

Dialogue summary: preventing interpersonal and self-directed violence and Injuries in the Caribbean

Caribbean Public Health Agency Legally established in July 2011 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by Caribbean Community Member States, the main objectives of CARPHA are: to promote the physical and mental health and wellness of people within the Caribbean; to provide strategic direction, in analyzing, defining and responding to public health priorities of the Caribbean Community; and to support solidarity in health, as one of the principal pillars of functional cooperation, in the Caribbean region.

Safeguarding our future development: plan of action for promoting healthy weights in the Caribbean: prevention and control of childhood obesity: 2014-2019

The Caribbean is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic. At least 1 in every 5 of our children are carrying unhealthy weights and are at risk of developing non-communicable diseases later in life. This Plan provides a comprehensive public health response to our problem. It seeks to tackle the underlying variables that produce the obesogenic environments that are fuelling the epidemic but it also supports more direct measures to effect change at the individual and community level as well as to provide clinical, family and psychosocial support for the child who is already affected by overweight/obesity. No response is however complete without giving due consideration to the capacity of the people, systems and institutions that will be called upon to deliver. Our Plan for Action therefore also includes measures to augment capacity in critical area and to effectively monitor progress and measure results.