Cause-of-Death Disparities in the African Diaspora: Exploring Differences among Shared-Heritage Populations
Lead author Ian Hambleton | Supplement 3, 2015, Vol 105, No. S3 | American Journal of Public Health
This paper investigates changes in life expectancy between African-descent populations in the United States and the Caribbean. It shows that deaths among the Caribbean community fell between 2000 and 2009, but that African Americans experienced better health improvements in the same period, particularly men, with mortality from cancers, and diabetes higher in African Caribbean people than in African Americans. Read more
(Am J Public Health. 2015;105:S491–S498. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302676)
Diabetes in North America and the Caribbean: An update
Yisahak, Beagley, Hambleton, Narayan; on behalf of the International Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas
Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, Volume 103, Issue 2, Pages 223–230
This paper explores the growing diabetes epidemic in North America and the Caribbean and characterises the disease as a serious threat not only to public health but development. It also examines a range of interventions which, if implemented, can considerably strengthen the response to diabetes. Read more
Trends in Longevity in the Americas: Disparities in Life Expectancy in Women and Men, 1965-2010
Ian R. Hambleton, Christina Howitt, Selvi Jeyaseelan, Madhuvanti M.Murphy, Anselm J Hennis, Rainford Wilks, E.Nigel Harris, Marlene MacLeish, Louis Sullivan, U.S. Caribbean Alliance for Health Disparities Research Group(USCAHDR) PLOSOne
The life expectancy and between-country disparities since 1965 in Latin America and the Caribbean are described in this paper. Life expectancy has increased throughout the regions. The Caribbean had the higher life expectancy and the lower between- country disparities from 1965 to 1970. However, this situation reversed between 2005-2010, with the Caribbean having the lower life expectancy and the higher life expectancy disparities. Read more
Monitoring compliance with high-level commitments in health: the case of the CARICOM Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases
T Alafia Samuels a, John Kirton b & Jenilee Guebert Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2014;92:270-276B
The 2007 Port of Spain Declaration on NCDs was a ground-breaking initiative that paved the way for the global UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011. The paper looks at the historical backdrop to the emergence of the Declaration, which was over ten years in the making. It looks at CARICOM follow-up, how it spurred the international NCD response into further action and examines compliance with the Declaration’s 27 commitments. Read more
Controlling NCDs through Summitry: the CARICOM case
John Kirton, Jenilee Guebert and T. Alafia Samuels
Global Health Diplomacy Program, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
The paper explores how the CARICOM summit, which led to the Port of Spain Declaration on NCDs, contained lessons for the 2011 UN High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases. Read more
Female Gender Is a Social Determinant of Diabetes in the Caribbean: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Sobers-Grannum N, Murphy MM, Nielsen A, Guell C, Samuels TA, Bishop L, Unwin N.
PLoS One. 2015 May 21;10(5):e0126799. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126799.
An estimated 10-15% of the adult population in the Caribbean is living with diabetes. This paper explores, through a systematic review, the social distribution of diabetes by gender and associated risk factors. It finds that being female is a determinant of the prevalence of the disease and looks at why there is an excess of diabetes among women in the Caribbean. Read more
Non-communicable Diseases Risk Factors Survey 2014 among University of the West Indies Staff, Trinidad and Tobago
TA Samuels, T Branche, S Hariharan
West Indian Medical Journal: 10.7727/wimj.2015.051.
This study sets out to determine the prevalence of NCD risk factors among University of the West Indies staff in Trinidad and Tobago and compare them to risk factors in the general population. A high prevalence of NCD risk factors among these staff was found as is the case among the general population in the country. The study explores policy options that could make a positive difference in helping challenge these factors. Read more
Raising the priority of chronic noncommunicable diseases in the Caribbean
Hospedales CJ, Samuels TA, Cummings R, Gollop G, Greene E. Raising the priority of chronic noncommunicable diseases in the Caribbean.
Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2011 Oct;30(4):393-00.
The paper looks at successes and challenges in the implementation of commitments outlined in the 2007 Port of Spain Declaration on NCDS. It finds that implementation has been most effective in larger countries with greater capacities but that all countries, regardless of size, performed well with regional or global support. Read more