Objectives

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a threat to social and economic development, including in the Caribbean. In 2007 the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held the world’s firstever summit of heads of government on NCD prevention and control and issued the landmark Declaration of Port-of-Spain: Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic NCDs. The objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of a formal evaluation of the Declaration and to highlight key findings that could inform further implementation of the Declaration’s 15 mandates.

Objectives

In 2007, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened the world’s first-ever heads of government summit on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and issued the landmark Declaration of Port-of-Spain: Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic NCDs. Since then, ministry of health (MoH) focal points in each country have self-reported annually on their NCD efforts, using a 26-indicator grid created to assess implementation of the Declaration. Our objective was to assess the validity of those grid responses, as compared to information from in-depth interviews and document reviews.

Objectives

To conduct an analysis of the most recent data on diabetes and its risk factors by gender and other social determinants of health to understand why its prevalence is higher among women than men in the Caribbean; to inform policy agenda-setting for diabetes prevention and control in the Caribbean; and to identify gaps in the evidence that require further research.

Objective

To examine the historical trends of premature death due to cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus (CVD-DM) in the Caribbean and to identify any associations between these trends and health care expenditure.

Objective

To identify, assess, and compare existing policies on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean, gaps in policy responses, and the factors influencing successful policy development and implementation following the Port of Spain Declaration of 2007. Specifically, to examine policies that target the upstream determinants of two NCD risk factors—unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.

Objective

To explore what is known on community-based food production initiatives (CFPIs) in Small Island Developing States, particularly the health, social, economic, and environmental impacts of and on CFPIs.

This report examines the experiences of Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean—Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, and in the Pacific— Fiji, Nauru, and Tonga with specific governmental regulatory measures to reduce the risk of obesity and associated diet-related chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as well as the obstacles and opportunities encountered.

Objectives

To determine the extent to which increased taxes on alcohol and tobacco products in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries might successfully reduce consumption of those products and raise revenues, which could then be channeled into noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and control initiatives. Methods. The Tobacco Tax Simulation (TaXSiM) model, which was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), was used to simulate the impact of tax changes on alcohol and tobacco products in three CARICOM member countries.

Like many nations in the Americas, the countries of the Caribbean are facing increasing morbidity and mortality associated with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In 2007, based on advocacy by Sir George Alleyne and others, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened the first in the world Heads of Government NCDs Summit. This summit issued the Port of Spain Declaration that served not only as a rallying point to accelerate the regional NCDs response, but also as a catalyst for the first United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs in September 2011.

Objective.

To assess how well Caribbean regional institutions (RIs) met their commitments from the 2007 Port-of-Spain Summit (POSS) declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and evaluate the POSS impact on the United Nations High-level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs in 2011 (2011 HLM), HLM NCD review in 2014 (2014 HLM), World Health Organization’s 2025 NCD targets (2025 WHO), and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon in 2015.