(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) His Excellency Edwin Carrington, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, on Tuesday September 8, 2009 charged the members of staff of the CARICOM Secretariat to take the lead in the “wellness revolution,” as activities intensified for the September 12 observance of the Second Caribbean Wellness Day under the theme Love that Body.
“The entire region is looking towards you for leadership,” Secretary-General Carrington told his members of staff as they geared up for fitness walk from the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen and continued east along Railway Embankment Road, towards the Ogle Airstrip Road and back.
Secretary-General Carrington urged the CARICOM Secretariat’s staff to make maximum use of the activities that had been planned to motivate healthy practices that would reduce risk factors of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
A discussion forum on Lifestyle Management preceded the Fitness Walk, and several other activities are scheduled for the remainder of the week, including a demonstration of healthy foods and healthy cooking, and a workshop on ergonomics.
The week of activities will culminate on Saturday with several sport activities including football, volleyball and table tennis, as well as a Dance for Health exercise. Space is reserved on Saturday for health and dental checks for members of staff and their families.
The observance of Caribbean Wellness Day on the second Saturday in September was one of 15 actionable decisions made by CARICOM Heads of Government at the Regional Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 15 September 2007. The Summit was convened to address the social and economic burdens of chronic NCDs on the Region.
