On Thursday 29th January 2026 the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) and it’s partners the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) held it’s tenth Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Day (CARD 2026) centered around the theme: ALCOHOL NOW: The Health Realities We Can’t Ignore. The webinar was attended by over 300 participants.
The Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Day (CARD), was first celebrated in 2016 as an initiative led by the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) with the aim of building public awareness about the dangers of alcohol consumption and building public and policymaker support for the implementation of evidence-informed alcohol policies recommended by PAHO/WHO outlined in the WHO Safer Technical Package and the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030. CARD is led by the HCC in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Day has been held annually for the past nine years, under the themes and titles: The Misuse of Alcohol (2016); Drink less, Reduce Cancer (2017); Youth: Let’s talk about alcohol (2018); Women and Alcohol (2019); Alcohol and COVID-19 (2020); Live Better, Drink Less, alcohol gets in the way (2021 *in support of PAHO’s regional alcohol awareness campaign under the same banner); The WHO Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 – Priorities for the Caribbean (2022); Alcohol Research- Evidence for Action (2023); and Unmasking Influence: Regulating Alcohol Marketing in the Caribbean (2024).
The goal of CARD 2026 was to: Promote CARICOM-wide implementation of PAHO/WHO recommended alcohol policies.
The objectives of CARD 2026 was to:
- Reinforce the dangers of alcohol consumption and the link between alcohol and cancer.
- Update on PAHOs alcohol-related work.
- Explore the commercial determinants of alcohol consumption in the Caribbean.
- Share Caribbean updates including member state policy actions and initiatives and alcohol research.
Panelists
Senator Dr. Kenneth Connell
HCC President, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, FMS, Cave Hill Campus, The UWI
Dr. Gloria Giraldo
NCDs and Mental Health Caribbean SubRegional Advisor, PAHO
Dr. Horace Cox
Director, Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division, CARPHA
Mr. Lawrence Jaisingh
Director – Health Policy, Research and Planning Directorate Health Policy, Research and Planning
Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Health
Professor Rohan Maharaj
HCC Alcohol Policy Advisor, Professor of Family Medicine, St . Augustine Campus, The UWI
Dr. Raul Martin del Campo
Alcohol and Substance Abuse Advisor, PAHO
Mrs. Nicole Foster
Commissioner Barbados National NCD Commission, Head, Law and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Law, Cave Hill Campus, The UWI, HCC Policy Technical Advisor
Dr. Shastri Motilal
Senior Lecturer in Family Medicine, FMS, St. Augustine Campus, The UWI
Mr. Adrian Palmer
Head, Rehabilitation (Sport & Recreation Unit) at The University of Trinidad And Tobago (UTT)
Mr. Maik Dünnbier
Director of Strategy and Advocacy, Movendi International
Mr. Caleb Paul
Program Officer, Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Nutrition, Castries, Saint Lucia
The HCC and partners have held an annual Caribbean Alcohol Reduction Days (CARD) since 2016 you can find details of the other CARD days here.