Webinar: Caribbean Regional Stakeholder Meeting on the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health
On Wednesday 30 July 2025, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation, convened a virtual Caribbean Regional Stakeholder Meeting in support of the 4th UN High-Level Meeting (HLM4) on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) including Mental Health. This timely discussion also marked the 18th anniversary of the landmark 2007 Port of Spain Declaration on NCDs.
Panellist Quotes
Open Letter to CARICOM Heads of Government
In Response to the Official Communique of the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government July 6–8, 2025, Montego Bay, Jamaica
July 22, 2025
Dear Honourable Heads of Government and State of CARICOM,
The President and the Board of Directors of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) note with disappointment the distinct absence of any mention of non-communicable disease (NCDs) and the upcoming 4th United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4) in the Communique of the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The HLM4 will be held on September 25th, 2025 in New York during the 80th Meeting of the UN General Assembly under the theme “Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.”
In HCCs Open Letter, we recalled the historical legacy of CARICOM leadership, engagement and participation in previous UN HLMs on NCDs, and called on CARICOM Leaders to deliver on five (5) key civil society asks:
- Commit to continued leadership on NCD prevention and control and commit to attendance at the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4) on September 25th, 2025 in the official Communiqué emerging from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
- Support the twelve Caribbean civil-society led advocacy priorities for inclusion in the official Communiqué from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and in the HLM4 Political Declaration [1].
- Support one or more CARICOM Heads of Government or State to have a lead role in at least one of the multi-stakeholder panels at the HLM4.
- Support the hosting of a high-level side-event on the margins of the HLM4 led by CARICOM Heads of Government and State as was done in past UN HLMs on NCDs.
- Endorse the inclusion of a representative from a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representing people living with NCDs and a youth representative in country delegations to the HLM4 in recognition of the whole-of-society response to NCDs.
The 4th UN High Level Meeting on NCDs (HLM4) will take place 25 September 2025 in New York at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. Heads of States and Government will set a new vision to prevent and control NCDs towards 2030 and 2050 through a political declaration to be decided in the UN General Assembly. The Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (HLM4) provides a unique opportunity to adopt a new, ambitious and achievable political declaration on NCDs towards 2050.
Dear Honourable Heads of Government and State of CARICOM, On the occasion of this, the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) calls on you, Caribbean Heads of Government and State, to indicate your commitment to addressing one of our region’s most pressing development issues – noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – by attending the 4th United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4). The HLM4 will be held on September 25th, 2025 in New York during the 80th Meeting of the UN General Assembly under the theme “Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.”
The HLM4 comes at a critical time when globally and in the Caribbean, rising rates of NCDs – namely cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health conditions – are vastly outpacing prevention and control efforts. Eighteen years ago, CARICOM Member states played an important role in catapulting NCDs onto the global health agenda with the seminal Port of Spain Declaration. This was followed by the 1st UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011 which was attended by a significant number of CARICOM Heads who declared in a strong, unified voice that the prevention and control of NCDs was of the highest priority for the region. Almost 20 years after the 1st UN High-Level Meeting, progress in NCD prevention and control is uneven and the 2024 Port of Spain Grid and the 2025 WHO Progress Monitor both reflect a region grossly off track to meet critical regional and global NCD targets including the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4. NCDs are the leading cause of premature deaths in the Caribbean where 40% of NCD deaths occur prematurely before the age of 70 years. As unnecessary death and disability continue to rise, so do the associated costs of preventing and controlling these diseases which place a significant burden on the limited economic resources of CARICOM States – a crisis worsened by the impact of food and nutrition insecurity and climate-related disasters. Within the context of aging and contracting populations and increasing economic and climate vulnerabilities, bold action on NCDs focusing equally on prevention and treatment and care is critical to promoting a secure and sustainable future for the Caribbean.
Read the full letter
The HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities were developed with emphasis on the importance of identifying a set of regional priorities around which CARICOM missions and negotiators can promote at the HLM4; civil society and key advocacy partners can mobilise; and governments and key implementing partners can embrace – as all stakeholders work to accelerate progress to agreed priority NCD prevention and control objectives in CARICOM Member States. They take into consideration the WHO Best Buys and Other Recommended Interventions and CARICOM regional platforms and mandates, reflect and support the global NCDA advocacy priorities, and are further informed by key factors and realities within the Caribbean context.
HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities summary View/download.
HLM4 Advocacy Priority Social Media Cards
The objective of the briefing note is to support the engagement of CARICOM Member States in the negotiations around the Political Declaration of HLM4. The briefing note presents the HCC-led Caribbean civil society advocacy priorities for HLM4; provides the rationale and evidence behind the advocacy priorities to support the negotiation process and contribute to effective Caribbean participation in the meeting; and sets the stage for continued advocacy for priority evidence-based NCD reduction strategies beyond HLM4.
HCC spotlight on Caribbean NCD leaders leading up to the 4th UN High Level Meeting on NCDs (HLM4) held during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025.
Stephanie Whiteman
Maisha Hutton
Maria O’Brien
The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) recently attended the UN Interactive Multistakeholder Hearing (MSH) as part of the preparatory process for the Fourth high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being (HLM4) to be held on 25 September 2025 at the 80th UNGA. The purpose of the MSH is to gather broad stakeholder feedback on NCD and mental health priorities to inform the development of the zero draft of the Political Declaration.
Read the official UN summary of the hearing here, this reflects the perspectives from Member States, civil society, youth, people living with NCDs, and other stakeholders.