Dear Editor,

The high rate of mortality from prostate cancer in the Caribbean poses a huge public health challenge for the area.

As we know, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a growing challenge globally, as well as in the Caribbean (1). In fact, the Caribbean has the highest burden of NCDs in the Region of the Americas (2). Among these chronic diseases, several types of cancers have occupied the top causes of death.

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 on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) stands out as an exemplar of considerable magnitude, not only to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), but to the world. It was the first time that the Conference of Heads of Government dedicated an entire meeting to a health theme, giving NCDs the pre-eminence that fostered the organization of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and its associated political declaration. This served as the platform for establishing NCDs as a problem requiring a multisectoral, whole-society approach. [...]

Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is committed to supporting the development of evidence, innovation, and policies to build healthier food systems, enable healthy and sustainable diets, and prevent noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The need and opportunity to do so has been great in the small island nations and communities of the Caribbean where political commitment and leadership have enabled both local action and influence of high-level, global dialogue to address the NCD epidemic. [...]

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.