CARIBBEAN TODAY


F nT U R 6


Caribbean launches assault on non-communicable diseases


 PETER RICHARDS

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -
Edwin Carrington, the secre-
tary general of the Caribbean
community (CARICOM),
had a simple message for
regional leaders who gathered
in Trinidad last month for a
special summit:
 "Let us all seize this
opportunity to leave a legacy
of a healthier region by mak-
ing this historic summit mem-
orable for setting in motion
the structure by which we not
only stem the tide but truly
unite to stop the epidemic of
non-communicable diseases in
the region."
 Now, six years after
agreeing that "the health of
the region is the wealth of the
region", Caribbean govern-
ments have launched their
assault on chronic non-com-
municable diseases (CNDC)
that they all agree cost them
millions of dollars annually to
treat and have affected the
socio-economic development
of their countries.
 At the end of their special
summit on health, the regional
leaders issued a "Declaration
of Port of Spain" supporting
the concerns raised in a 123-
page report by the Caribbean
Commission on Health and
Development (CCHD) that
warned "a healthy population
is an essential prerequisite for
the economic growth and sta-
bility of the Caribbean".
 Carrington had said that
the challenge of the summit


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26)

said in his address last month.
 Sir Shridath, who has
encyclopaedic knowledge of
the historic controversy,
reminded the press that
Guyana's claims to the once-
disputed maritime area were
not trumped-up.
 "In 1977 our Maritime
Boundaries Act asserted the
equidistance principle that the
tribunal upheld, and of course,
it is the same principle that
Suriname is adopting in its
eastern boundary with French
Guiana," Sir Shridath recalled.
 The minority parliamentary
Alliance For Change (AFC) in
a statement over the weekend
said the "historic and legally
binding decision now allows for
the Governments of Guyana
and Suriname to forge econom-
ic and social development activ-
ities, including natural resource
exploitation of the sea bed for
the mutual benefit of their
respective countries and people.
 "This award must be seen


was to come up with a blue
print for an integrated pre-
vention strategy targeting the
three main risk factors:
unhealthy diet, physical inac-
tivity and tobacco use.


Arthur


STRATEGIES
 In the declaration, the
regional leaders have accept-
ed the main recommendations
of the CCHD which include
strategies to prevent and con-
trol heart disease, stroke, dia-
betes, hypertension, obesity
and cancer in the region by
addressing their "casual risk
factors of unhealthy diet,
physical inactivity, tobacco
use and alcohol abuse and
strengthening our health serv-
ices".
 The Caribbean leaders
said they are convinced that
the burdens of CNDCs "can
be reduced by comprehensive
and integrated preventative
and control strategies at the
individual, family, community,
national and regional levels
and through collaborative


by all as a positive instance
where the resolution of dis-
putes can be settled in a dis-
passionate and peaceful man-
ner. The entire region, CARI-
COM and the world at large
must acknowledge and cele-
brate this occasion as a tri-
umph for the rule of interna-
tional law," the AFC said.
 The ageing Sir Shridath
counseled that last month's
maritime award has opened up
"a new era in Guyana's devel-
opment." This, however, will
bring new challenges said the
former chief negotiator for
CARICOM.
 "Oil has been a mixed
blessing where its gains are not
sensitively managed. But there
are models of best practices
from which Guyana can bene-
fit as we stand poised on the
cusp of that new time. It is not
too early to prepare for the
challenges it will bring," Sir
Shridath said.

- CMC
0


programs, partnerships and
policies supported by govern-
ments, private sectors, non-
government organizations and
our other social, regional and
international part n iir, .
 In its report submitted to
Caribbean governments near-
ly two years ago, the CCHD,
chaired by Sir George
Alleyne, the chancellor of the
University of the West Indies
(UWI), noted for example the
high cost to regional govern-
ments for treating two non-
communicable diseases,
hypertension and diabetes. It
said that the cost of hyperten-
sion and diabetes in Jamaica
for one year was approxi-
mately $58 million "and this
did not include any estimate
of the economic value of the
lives lost.
 "Multiplied throughout
the Caribbean, this cost
implies a tremendous drain
on the economies," the report
said, ,ui-- lin_ also that "the
Caribbean must seriously
address the rising epidemic of
obesity, which is the common
factor associated with an
increased risk of chronic non-
communicable diseases."

REMOVING MYTHS
 St. Kitts and Nevis Prime
Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas,
who has lead responsibility
for health in CARICOM, said
that it was also important for
the region's population to
move away from various
myths that prevent efforts at
developing strategies to
meaningfully deal with
CNCDs.
 He told the summit here
that many Caribbean people
were of the opinion that
chronic diseases were a prob-
lem of rich countries, while
the facts show "non-commu-
nicable disease account for
more than half the burden on
disease and 80 percent of the
deaths in the poorer countries
which carry a double burden
of disease.
 "If the known risk factors
are controlled, at least 80 per-
cent of heart disease, stroke
and diabetes and 40 percent
of cancers are preventable,
and in addition there are cost
effective interventions avail-
able for control," he said.
 The summit was told that
the prevalence of CNDC in
the Caribbean "is the worst in
the AmiL ri., and, according
to CARICOM Chairman
Owen Arthur, who is also the
Barbados prime minister, "it
is clear we are failing to prop-
erly control the factors which
engender these diseases.
 "It is also clear that
despite valiant efforts at the
domestic level, a coordinated
regional partnership and pro-


gram is now required if we
are to make the significant
advances required," he said,
noting that the Caribbean
spends half of its health
expenditure on treating
CNDCs.
 "These costs are project-
ed to spiral at a time when we
face competing claims for our
limited resources. Failure to
act can imperil our very lives,
not to mention the future of
the community as we know
it," Arthur said.

TAX ATTACK
 As part of the new initia-
tives to deal with CNDCs, the
governments have agreed to
introduce higher taxes on


Carrington


tobacco and alcohol as well as
"support the immediate
enactment of legislation to
limit or eliminate smoking in
public places, ban the sale,
advertising and promotion of
tobacco products to children,
insist on effective warning
labels and introduce such fis-
cal measures that will reduce
accessibility of tobacco".
 In addition, they said the
public revenue derived from
tobacco, alcohol or other such
products would be employed
towards preventing CNCDs,
promoting health and sup-
porting the work of national
commissions on CNDCs that
would plan and coordinate
the comprehensive prevention
and control strategies.
 Trinidad and Tobago's
Prime Minister Patrick
Manning told the summit that
his oil-rich island had long
adopted strong fiscal meas-
ures to deal with alcohol and
tobacco related diseases par-
ticularly after the CCHD
report had indicated that the
country needed nearly half a
billion dollars annually to
treat diabetes and high blood
pressure.
 "When therefore the gov-
ernment of Trinidad and
Tobago took the opportunity
to set alcohol and tobacco
further away from the reach
of the population, there were
many who did not even nor
even now fully understand the


choices before us," Manning
said.
 "We did it on the basis of
what had to be done in the
interest of the national com-
munity. What is more we
recognize clearly that in treat-
ing with the problem, addi-
tional measures and strategies
must be implemented."

PLANS
 The Caribbean countries
have agreed to establish by
mid-2008, comprehensive
plans for the screening and
management of chronic dis-
eases and risk factors "so that
by 2012, 80 percent of people
with CNDCs would receive
quality care and have access
to preventative education
based on regional guidLI n L .
 In addition, physical edu-
cation will be re-introduced in
schools and where necessary
provide incentives to ensure
that "our education sectors
promote programs aimed at
providing healthy school
meals and promoting healthy
eating".
 The regional countries
have also agreed to work
closely with a number of
Caribbean institutions
including the Jamaica-based
Caribbean Food and
Nutrition Institute (CFNI)
that would be used as a focal
point for providing guidance
and public education as part


Douglas


of the strategy to "enhance
food security and our strong
support for the elimination of
trans fats from the diets of
our citizens.
 "Our support for the
efforts of the Caribbean
Regional Negotiating
Machinery to pursue fair
trade policies in all interna-
tional trade negotiations
thereby promoting greater
use of indigenous agricultural
products and foods by our
populations and reducing the
negative effects of globalisa-
tion on our food supply", are
also strategies outlined by the
regional leaders.

- CMC
0


Guyana pleased with settlement of

 maritime dispute with Suriname


October 2007


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