Ten years of the Port of Spain Declaration: Lessons learned from tackling noncommunicable diseases in the Caribbean

The 2007 Declaration of Port of Spain, “Uniting to stop the epidemic of chronic NCDs,” resulted from a historic and unprecedented effort by heads of state of the Caribbean subregion who recognized the devastating burden and consequences of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) on their citizens and the need to respond at the highest political level. The Port of Spain Declaration (POSD) comprises 27 commitments to action in key areas including risk factor reduction and health promotion; improving quality of care; the development of appropriate legislative frameworks and the establishment of NCD commissions or similar entities to provide oversight of NCD prevention and control efforts.