Message from Dr Alafia Samuels on the occasion of World Obesity Day In Barbados nearly 2,500 children between 10 – 19 years of age have hypertension because they are obese. Is your child one of them?  Children this age would not have hypertension if they were normal weight. In addition, more than 200 children between […]

If we are really to make a difference in the region’s NCD epidemic we have change the way a lot of us eat. One example of a restaurant trying to turn the tide is ‘Island Grill’ in Kingston, Jamaica. They don’t call their products ‘fast food’ – they prefer the term ‘quick service food’- and […]

NCDs central to COHSOD meeting  Non-communicable diseases will be high on the agenda at the 30th meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD). Taking place at PAHO Headquarter in Washington on 24-25 September, one of the key elements of the meeting will be to agree on revised priorities for the 2007 Port […]

Healthy Children in Healthy Environments is the theme of this year’s Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD). Since 2008, on every second Saturday in September people, organisations and communities from all over the region have come together for CWD to strengthen the all-of-society response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), promoting healthy living, activities and programmes that support wellness. […]

Trinidad and Tobago: civil society rises to the NCD challenge   The multisectoral response to the NCD epidemic in Trinidad and Tobago was given a welcome boost recently when a host of civil society organisations met in Port of Spain to discuss accelerating action against chronic diseases. Held on July 28, the meeting brought together […]

Social determinants of health: inequality is a mass killer, says top academic Most of the burden of ill health is socially determined and “social injustice is killing on a grand scale,” Professor Sir Michael Marmot, President of the World Medical Association told a rapt audience in Port of Spain this weekend. Speaking at the Trinidad […]

Getting fitter: why we all plan to start ‘tomorrow’ The vast majority of Barbadians, six out of 10 men and an alarming nine out of 10 women, get too little exercise and this is having severe consequences for the health of the nation. At a recent public meeting, a panel including fitness experts, town planners, civil […]