Sir Trevor Hassell, President of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition.
The focus recently was on “NCDs in the Caribbean: Understanding Challenges and Development Priorities”, during a brown bag lunch discussion held earlier this month at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
CARPHA Executive Director, Dr. Joy St. John was joined by Sir Trevor Hassell, HCC President, to share information on the topic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and that special brown bag lunch discussion was attended by over 30 CDB employees at CDB headquarters in Barbados. The event was organised by Dr. Annicia Geddes-Gayle, Social Analyst in the Social Sector Division.
Whilst the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) teamed up with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for this segment, the HCC has been working assiduously with the CDB on various health matters. The Coalition recently wrapped up a regional collaboration with the Bank, aimed at building the capacity of five civil society organisations (CSOs) across four CARICOM countries, to respond to childhood obesity, through advocacy initiatives aimed at fast-tracking obesity prevention policies.
As the HCC and the Caribbean Development Bank joined Forces to tackle childhood obesity in the Caribbean earlier this year, the CDB approved a grant of US$150 000 to the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, to support capacity building to address childhood obesity prevention in four countries. The project, it is said, will strengthen the ability of civil society organisations in The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and Jamaica, to contribute to non-communicable disease prevention and control, with specific focus on childhood obesity programmes.
The organisations who will benefit from the grant are, The Cancer Society of The Bahamas, The Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Foundation of Barbados, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados, The Belize Cancer Society and The Heart Foundation of Jamaica.
(RSM)