CARIBBEAN TODAY ....a I T a9 Caribbean spending millions to fight non-communicable disease threat PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC Caribbean countries are spending millions of dol- lars treating non-communica- ble diseases that will continue to present a major challenge to the region if steps are not taken to address the situation, according to Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Addressing a regional news conference ahead of a one-day special Caribbean community(CARICOM) Summit on Health last month, Manning said that chronic non- communicable diseases were responsible for many deaths in the Caribbean. He said that the economic burden of treat- ing diseases such as diabetes and hypertension would be in the vicinity of $496.7 million. Manning said that region- al governments had been pre- sented with the findings of a CARICOM Commission for Health and Development dur- ing their summit in St. Kitts last year, adding that the report had highlighted that non-communicable disease had become "a major chal- lenge on our hands." NO QUICK FIX Chairman of the Commission, Sir George Alleyne told journalists that there is no quick remedy to reducing the burden of non- communica- ble diseases in the Caribbean. S He said the region has reached this tk stage after "JC~IdL, of exposure to risk factors Manning and their cor- rection will take some time." The risk factors identified by the commission include high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, inappropriate diet and lack of physical activity. Manning said the cost to Caribbean governments, as well as the social implications were sufficient and necessary justifications for the summit and that the regional leaders had shown an intention to "embark on preventive action." He said that his administration had already taken steps towards dealing with the spread of non-commu- nicable dis- eases mak- ing refer- ences to the national symposium on health as well as increasing Alleyne taxes on alcohol and tobacco products in the 2007 national budget. "These items have been identified as major contributors to high mortality rates caused by non-communicable diseases in this country as well as the Caribbean and other parts of the world," Manning said. More on page 27. BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC The University of Medicine and Health Sciences of St. Kitts (UMHSS), capa- ble of accommodating 1,200 students, will begin operations here in January next year. An agreement to charter and establish the university has been signed between Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and Dr. Robert Ross of the United States, a gov- ernment statement said. It said that under the agreement, government will grant the university, subject to accreditation by the Accreditation Board, "the charter for a school of medi- cine with the right to confer the degree of doctor of medi- cine and other appropriate degrees, including without limitation, post-graduate degrees to holders of the doc- tor of medicine degree. "The government also grants the university the right to establish a pre-medical division with the right to con- fer appropriate degrees, including without limitation, the degree of physicians assis- tant, and to engage in all nec- essary and appropriate activi- ties that are direct or inciden- tal to the operation of a school of medicine and or such other schools, provided that the holding of the charter shall be subject to the univer- sity continuing to be accredit- ed by the Accreditation Board", statid the agreement. Under the agreement, the Joseph N. France General Hospital and other public health care facilities would be available to the UMHSS for the training of physicians for an annual fee. It also said that UHMSS would "continuously" provide two scholarships to nationals covering the cost of tuition, books and equipment. 0 KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - Jamaica has regained its malaria free status following a turbulent period earlier this year, which saw scores of people contracting the mos- quito-borne disease. The Ministry of Health said last month that there have been no new confirmed cases for the past three months. The last reported case occurred on June 19. Dr. Eva Lewis Fuller, director of health promotion and protection in the min- istry, said the three-month period had been critical, as it indicated that the ministry had hbr, ki n the back" of the disease. She said this was done by interrupting the transmission through various strategies, which included active searches and a beefed up vector control program. Persons traveling to Jamaica are no longer required to take anti-malaria prophylaxis. The Centre for 4Wr Malaria-carrying mosquito Disease Control in the United States, as well as the World Health Organization, had recommended the drug. 0 Leighton A. Taylor, M.D. Board Certified Plastic Surgeon The look you dreamed of: BREAST,".%H' -- ../8.1 .., II. , LIPOSUCtION TUMMY TUCKS VARICOSE AND SPIDER VAIN TREATMENT KELOID REMOVAL EAR LOBE REPAIR FACE LIFTS MICRODERMABRASION Please call for an appointment (954) 963-1337 Fax (954) 981-7955 2261 North University Dr., Ste 200 Pembroke Pines, FL 33024 (across from Memorial Hospital Pembroke) Farins A. Hanna, M.D., F.A.C.O.G, P.A. Offering The Women in South Florida Quality Healthcare SPECIALIZING IN Obstetrics e. (Qynecology Comprehensive Care Please call for an appointment 150 (305) 652-0040 1150 North 35th Avenue, Suite 675 Hollywood, Forida 33021 Diplomate American Board of Obstetrics and gynecologyy ~ PAUL W. MOO YOUNG, D.D.S. 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