(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) With the first CARICOM Heads of Government Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) just two days away, the Caribbean Community has been warned that “we are in for the long haul” and “there would be no quick fixes” to curtailing the burden of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Caribbean.
Speaking today at a Media Clinic to launch the Summit slated for Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday September 15, the Honourable Sir George Alleyne OCC, Chairman of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development (CCHD) explained to Caribbean journalists that alleviating the problem of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases would take a long time primarily because of “decades of exposure to risk factors such as obesity, unhealthy food choices, physical inactivity, high cholesterol and tobacco use.”
However, he expressed confidence that the Region was fully capable of responding to the challenge, given major successes in eradicating measles and polio myelitis, and curtailing under-nutrition.
Sir George pointed out that this was the first time in the world that any Heads of Government were convening a Summit on NCDs, noting that it was an indication of the priority with which the issue was being treated within the Caribbean. He added that the Summit was a first step in a series of critical actions necessary to stemming the tide of the diseases and that the perception that NCDs were usually associated with rich countries was one of the factors that prevented reduction in the Caribbean. “It (NCDs) crept up on us,” said the CCHD Chairman.
Emphasising the need for the Heads of Government to address risk factors, to NCDs, Sir George pointed out that while not discounting reduction in adults, lifestyle management education had to start with the very young. He argued that the very young within the Community would need to learn to eat right, exercise right and weigh right, as the countries sought to minimize these diseases.
Citing obesity as a major contributor to Chronic NCDs, Sir George noted that one of the critical concerns that would be addressed at the Summit were recommendations for the production and importation of foods with less propensity for fat. Chronic NCDs are lifestyle related diseases which account for 60 per cent of deaths worldwide and are reported to be the leading causes of death, disability and illness in the Caribbean.
The Summit, which takes place under the theme: Stemming the Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases, will examine the burden of the main diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and hypertension; their risk factors and the evidence for the application of interventions.
Organised by the CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Americas Bureau of the World Health Organisation (WHO), this historic Summit is expected to end with a clear appreciation of the extent of the threat of NCDs to the health sector and development of the Caribbean region as well as collective decisions on imminent actions and the necessary monitoring mechanisms for follow up.
