April 29 - May 5 2013

HCC Feature

The 58th CARPHA/CHRC Scientific Conference

The 58th Annual Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)/Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC) Scientific Conference was held last week from Thursday May 2nd - Saturday May 4th. This marked the first such meeting under the newly formed umbrella body CARPHA, an amalgamation of five previous regional health institutes: the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre; Caribbean Health Research Council; Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute; Caribbean Environmental Health Institute; and the Caribbean Research Drug Testing. Regional and international researchers, policy makers, health care providers and students converged at the Hilton Barbados for the two-day scientific conference on public health issues in the region. At the top of the agenda was childhood obesity. Of special importance to HCC was the underlying theme of greater community involvement and thus the need and importance for civil society to be an active participant in efforts to meet the challenges posed by the NCDs. This was particularly highlighted during the Opening Feature Lecture by Professor Rainford Wilks when he highlighted Community Based Participatory Research and remarked on the critical importance of the 'community' in the research process and the growing need for scientists/academia to reflect the voice of the community in their work. The involvement of civil society in such efforts requires strong effectively functioning civil society organizations.

The HCC is committed, through the development of innovative partnerships with academia, and others, to promote the creation of systems and processes that drive the successful development of research agendas, based on priority needs; and the translation of research findings into policies and programmes which make real differences in the quality of life of Caribbean peoples through reduction of NCD morbidity and mortality.

For more information on CARPHA please visit www.carpha.org

For more information on the Conference please see link www.chrc-caribbean.org

For press on the conference please see links below:

• Conference Programme
• Childhood Health Focus at CARPHA’S 58th Scientific Conference
• Health minds meet
• Minister Of Health To CARPHA: Prevention Is Our Only Salvation

News Roundup

The Global Fight Against Cancer - No woman should die from cervical cancer - Today, International Women's Day, guest blogger Genevieve Sambhi, former Miss Malaysia/Universe first runner-up shares her cervical cancer story. For me, this has been the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. I am a mother of two young kids (Isabella was four and Alexander just 15 months at the time). The thought of not being there for them as they grew up, is what gave me the strength to go on and fight. Read more

Planning cancer control in Latin America and the Caribbean - Published April 26, 2013 THe Lancet. Non-communicable diseases, including cancer, are rapidly becoming the leading health-care problem in middle-income and low-income countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, current cancer control plans vary widely between countries in this region, are largely reactionary to treating advanced cancers, and strongly favour a wealthy and educated minority. Read more

NCD Alliance - Global Campaigns Update - Following the September 2011 UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), the World Health Organization (WHO) has led a series of consultations with Member States, United Nations (UN) agencies, NGOs, and the private sector to fulfill commitments made in the UN Political Declaration on NCDs. Now with this consultation period nearly complete, three main elements of the Global NCD Framework are on track to be confirmed at the 66th World Health Assembly in May 2013. Read more

Health Action Partnership International - HAPI Email Alert - This is the bi-weekly HAPI Alert containing recent publications, upcoming conferences, new vacancies and news of the Health Action Partnership see the latest here. Read more

World Day for Safety & Health at Work 2013 - The World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work. It is held on 28 April and has been observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2003. Theme 2013: Prevention of occupational diseases: Worldwide, occupational diseases continue to be the leading cause of work-related deaths. According to ILO estimates, out of 2.34 million occupational fatalities every year, only 321,000 are due to accidents. Read more

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HCC Features - Previously featured Members, events and news can now be found on our HCC Featured webpage here

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