September 4 - September 17 2013

HCC Feature

Globe-athon

From the United States to Iran, from Russia to the Congo, from Peru to South Korea, and across the Caribbean, people around the world are uniting in the first annual international Globe-athon: The Walk to End Women’s Cancers. During the last weekend in September, participants in more than 80 countries will make history by walking in solidarity with millions of women and families affected by below-the-belt reproductive cancers. GYN cancers -- cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar -- account for almost 20% of the 5.1 million estimated new cancer cases and 2.9 million cancer deaths worldwide. More than 230,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, many in the late stages of their disease, and more than half will die. Cervical cancer is alarmingly on the rise in South and East Asia, Africa and South America, with incidence and death rates at their highest levels in 30 years, making the disease a major global priority. In the Caribbean cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths.

“While gains have been made in treating breast cancer and other diseases, far too many women around the world continue to die from cervical, ovarian and other reproductive cancers,” says Dr. Larry Maxwell. “We want women to learn the symptoms for early detection and successful treatment, and raise research funding to develop better tools to defeat these cancers.”

"It is unacceptable that the Caribbean loses approximately 2300 women to cervical cancer every year when this disease is 95% preventable," adds Professor Trevor Hassell, President of the HCC. We can change this. Collectively we as Caribbean people can walk together in unison making a bold statement in support of increased resources to reduce the regional burden of gynecological cancers.

The Globe-athon is an unprecedented call-to-action, uniting communities around the world to raise awareness and support research on reproductive cancers, The Relay Round the White House in the US joins this signature, multinational coalition to shine a bright spotlight on these diseases and support a global movement to end women’s cancer. The Caribbean is part of this global event. See below a summary of events:

• Barbados: 4:00pm Walking Bay Street Esplanade Register here
• Grenada:4:00pm Walking from Camerhogne Park in Grand Anse to the National Stadium Register here
• Carriacou: 4:00pm walking from Norman's Disco in Windward to the Recreational Grounds in Hillsborough. Register here
• Jamaica: Support: on the day with dispensing of information and talks Register here
• St. Vincent's and the Grenadines: 3:00pm Walking from Queens Drive across Arnos Vale and up to Sion Hill and back to Queens Drive Register here
• Trinidad and Tobago: Support on the day with dispensing of information Register here

Click on the images below to see the Globeathon PSAs

News Roundup

New cardiac suite by year end

Barbados - A facility catering to the needs of persons suffering from coronary artery disease would be open to the public by the end of 2013. This was revealed by Minister of Health, John Boyce, who delivered the feature address at yesterday’s dedication and official naming of the headquarters building – the Hassell & Symmonds Cardiac Care Centre – in honour of the founding fathers of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HSFB) Inc.

“A similar type of decision has already been taken with respect to coronary artery disease and the cardiac suite, whose services will include critical care post-acute heart attack, thrombolysis, cardiac catherization and angiographic interventions. This facility will be open to the public by the end of this year.” Read more

NCD Alliance E-Alert - HLM was a watershed moment - Under the leadership of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and with the support of the NCD Alliance and our network, the HLM was a watershed moment in the history of global health and development. With the adoption of the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, for the first time Member States and the UN recognised the impact of the global NCD epidemic and made unprecedented commitments for action. Read more

NCD Alliance E-Alert - UN High-level Week in New York - Next week is the high-level week of the 68th UN General Assembly in New York. With numerous UN High-Level Meetings taking place related to health and NCDs, including the Special Event on Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it will be an important week for the global NCD community. Read more

HCC member grabs award - HCC and CARIBAPAN member Caribbean New Media Group has scooped another award for its reality radio show 'Eye on Dependency'. The award from the Caribbean Broadcasting Union was for Best Radio Documentary, the documentary was called 'Edward Chadee Unplugged' produced and presented by Garth St. Clair and Natasha Nunez.

World Heart Day September 29th 2013

This year’s theme will focus on: a life-course approach to the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with a focus on women and children. Read more

Papers for the 59th Annual CARPHA (CHRC) Conference 2014 - Please note that November 1, 2013 is the deadline for the submission of papers for the 59th Annual CARPHA (CHRC) Conference to be held in Aruba from May 1-3, 2014. The theme for 2014 is Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases through the Life Course. Read more

PAHO Wellness Week - Join Dr. Carissa Etienne at the closing ceremony of Wellness Week talking about opportunities for promoting wellbeing where we live in a panel presentation together with Dr. Joxel García, Director of the Department of Health in WDC, as well as representatives from the US National Parks Services and the American Public Health Association. Mark your calendar, Friday, 20th September, from 11:00 to 11:45am, WDC time. To participate in the presentation, please access the virtual room here

Women Deliver - newsletter - Follow UNGA Week Conversations, Watch the PBS Documentary on Women Deliver 2013 & Chat with Experts, View the Webcast: Lives on the Line, Join our World Contraception Day Tweetchat, It Takes Two - Projects on Catapult, Latest news from the women deliver website and more... Read more

Trinidad is the happiest country in the Caribbean - according to the 2013 World Happiness Report from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The Report edited by John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs is offered as a contribution to the crucial debate about the objectives of world public policy, what should be the world’s Sustainable Development Goals for the period 2015-2030. The word “happiness” is not used lightly. Happiness is an aspiration of every human being, and can also be a measure of social progress. America’s founding fathers declared the inalienable right to pursue happiness. Yet are Americans, or citizens of other countries, happy? If they are not, what if anything can be done about it? Read the report here

NCD Child Connect - UPCOMING EVENT: Young People, NCDs & Disability: Maximizing Capacity Across the Life-Course. NCD Child welcomes you to the launch of our event on Young People, NCDs and Disability at Harvard Medical School on 23 September. Please join us in person in Boston or join the conversation online @NCDChild to #Act4NCDChild and #NCDs. Read more

E-Cigarettes as Effective as Nicotine Patches in Smoking Cessation - More studies are helping regulators to decide what role e-cigarettes could play in anti-smoking efforts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently evaluating the safety of e-cigarettes, which are battery-powered versions of cigarettes that can contain varying amounts of nicotine but don’t expose users to the potentially harmful byproducts of tobacco smoke such as tar and carbon monoxide. Read more

HCC News Roundup Archive - If you have missed any of our News Roundups you can view previous Roundups on our News Roundup Archive webpage here

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

Healthy Caribbean Coalition