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NEWS Roundup
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20 June 2026
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Letter To The Editor: Shaping Our Future: Why Barbados Must Treat School Nutrition as a Public Health Imperative
by Senator Dr. Kenneth Connell, President HCC
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Public health is built not on good intentions alone, but on strong, enforced legislation. Barbados has already demonstrated this truth across multiple areas of national life. We accept and comply with seatbelt laws because they save lives. We respect smoke-free public spaces because they protect citizens from harm. More recently, we have supported anti-gang legislation as a necessary intervention in addressing crime—not only as a security issue, but as a public health concern.
These policies do more than regulate behaviour; they reshape environments in ways that make safer, healthier choices the default. They reduce risk, protect the vulnerable, and ultimately save lives. Importantly, they remind us that when a threat to national well-being is clear, decisive action is not optional—it is essential.
Today, Barbados faces another urgent and escalating public health threat: childhood obesity. The data tells a stark and troubling story. Over the past four decades, childhood overweight and obesity in Barbados has surged from less than 5% in 1981 to over 30% by the early 2000s, and now to approximately 42% among children aged 5–19. Even within the last decade, rates have climbed significantly from 33% in 2012 to 42% in 2022, confirming that the trajectory is still rising. |
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Media Coverage:
Barbados Today
Nation News
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The Personal Responsibility Trap
Op-Ed by Maisha Hutton, Executive Director HCC
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When it comes to protecting children in schools, the debate should not be about whether children and parents need to make better choices. It should be about whether governments are willing to fulfil their obligation to create environments that support those choices in the first place.
The Caribbean is facing a crisis of childhood overweight and obesity. Recent data shows that nearly half (42%) of Barbadian children are living with overweight or obesity, up from 33% just a decade ago. These children face an increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which we are already beginning to see; imposing an enormous burden on families, communities, the healthcare system and the economy.
A recent public discussion in Barbados, spurred by the launch of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados’ ENOUGH campaign calling for the regulation of marketing of unhealthy foods in schools, repeatedly returned to the importance of personal responsibility. Parents undoubtedly play a critical role in shaping children's habits, including encouraging them to make healthier food and beverage choices, but with no support through a notable change in the environment, how do we expect them to navigate the predatory nature of the pervasive marketing seen at every corner of the school environment? Children have also been encouraged to become advocates for healthier lifestyles. Families matter. Education matters. Personal choices matter. |
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Media Coverage:
Dominica News Online
Antigua Newsroom
SKN Vibes
Barbados Today
Starcom Network |
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Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Says “Enough” to Unhealthy Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools
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Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados: With nearly half of Barbadian youth facing a rising health crisis, the Childhood Obesity Prevention Programme of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HSFB) launched a new public awareness campaign advocating for the protection of school environments from pervasive unhealthy food marketing. The national campaign entitled “Enough. If it harms our children’s health, it must be regulated” was launched on 10 June 2026.
The campaign comes at a critical time as childhood obesity is a growing concern in Barbados. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Observatory (2022), an estimated 42% of Barbadian children are classified as overweight or obese. Research shows that childhood obesity significantly elevates the risk of developing life-threatening non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in adulthood, including Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Furthermore, the eating patterns established during childhood and adolescence often continue into adulthood.
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Media Coverage:
Barbados Today
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Junk Food Marketing – The Real Schoolyard Problem
Chevanese Tulloch and Britania Williams
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L to R: Chevanese Tulloch and Britania Williams
Photo: The Gleaner website
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The Gleaner: Across the region, school environments continue to expose children to marketing for ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks through sponsorships, branded events, vending availability, and promotions in and around school spaces. This is happening in a region already facing a serious nutrition challenge.
According to UNICEF Jamaica, approximately one in three children are at risk of diet-related health conditions linked to poor nutrition environments. A student in Kingston recently said: “Sometimes when I walk into school, the first thing I see is ads for drinks and snacks before I even get to class.” While this reflects lived experience, it also aligns with regional evidence showing that children are repeatedly exposed to unhealthy food environments in schools, shops, and digital spaces. |
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Caribbean Noncommunicable Disease Focal Points, Nutritionists and Legal Drafters Strategise on Sodium Reduction and Industrially Produced Trans Fats Policies
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Photo: PAHO/WHO
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PAHO: Nutritionists, Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) focal points and legal drafters from eight Caribbean countries recently met in Barbados to determine the steps needed to advance the adoption, implementation and monitoring of sodium reduction targets and policies for the elimination of industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFAs).
Excessive sodium and trans fats consumption are among the top causes of death and contribute to the global burden of noncommunicable diseases. It is estimated that approximately 2 million deaths each year are attributable to these two factors. In many countries, three quarters of sodium intake comes from processed and ultra processed foods, such as processed meats, packaged breads, sauces and condiments and cheese. |
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Guyana and Haiti Have Shortest Life Expectancy Among Caribbean Countries
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St Kitts & Nevis Observer Most Caribbean countries have made significant gains in life expectancy with Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Trinidad and Tobago among the regional countries with the longest life expectancy and Guyana and Haiti, the shortest.
A new report by the United Nations Development Programmme (UNDDP) released in the Dominican Republic on Monday, also indicated that the Caribbean subregion, in general, has a lower life expectancy than the Latin America, with an average life expectancy of 77.8 years.
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Webinar - A Round Table Where No One Is Left at the Margins
Thursday, June 25 at 12:30 GMT (08:30 EDT, 13:30 BST/WAT, 14:30 CEST/SAST, 15:30 EAT)
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Health Architecture Reimagined: Five country and regional civil society groups have partnered with HEAR CSO to convene community-driven conversations on global health architecture reform and identify priorities for action. In this dynamic session, they will share what they heard, highlight emerging priorities, and invite participants to help shape the next phase of regional and global advocacy. Come ready to learn from community voices, exchange ideas, and help build momentum for more inclusive and accountable global health governance.
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Jamaica Moves Toward Social Media Safeguards for Children Amid Mental Health Concerns
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CNW The Ministry of Health and Wellness is moving toward the development of a comprehensive policy framework to regulate and guide the use of social media among children and adolescents, citing growing concerns about its impact on mental health and behaviour.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton outlined the initiative during his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 12, warning that while digital platforms have transformed communication and economic opportunity, they are also contributing to measurable psychological strain among young people.
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Two Decades of Multisectoral Governance on NCDs in Barbados: The Success Story of the National NCD Commission (NNCDC) Barbados
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The National NCD Commission Barbados, September 2024.
Photo: Michael Edwards
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WHO: For nearly two decades, the National NCD Commission (NNCDC) of Barbados has been coordinating a multisectoral response to noncommunicable diseases (NCDS), a major health and development concern in the Small Island Developing State. Advising five different government administrations, the NNCDC directly supported major advances in NCD prevention and control – from taxing sugar-sweetened beverages to introducing smoking bans and a new school nutrition policy.
A small Island Developing State (SIDS), Barbados faces unique structural barriers in preventing and managing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions, as geographic isolation, small population size, extreme weather events and food insecurity pose major challenges. SIDS are among the countries hardest hit by climate change and natural disasters, which exacerbate chronic health conditions and disrupt crucial health services. People living in SIDS face some of the world’s highest estimated risks of dying prematurely from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, and often show high rates of childhood and adult obesity. |
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Unhealthy Food and Drink Brands in Our Schools?
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The Wellness Effect Podcast Series
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Click/Tap to play
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Sagicor: Hosted by Dr. Kenneth Connell, President of the HCC and Deputy Dean of Recruitment and Outreach at the UWI Faculty of Medicine, The Wellness Effect is a video podcast series designed to educate our communities about the dangers of NCDs. It will show the impact on not just their physical but their financial wellbeing. The series is a partnership between Sagicor, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and the UWI Faculty of Medicine.
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Where You Belong: Sustaining Community in an Individualistic World - A Virtual Panel Discussion by Let's Unpack It Inc.
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PAHO: Health Tax Levels in the Americas Remain Too Low to Curb Harmful Consumption of Alcohol and Sugary Drinks
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Image: PAHO website
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PAHO: Levels of health taxes on alcohol and sugar‑sweetened beverages in the Americas remain too low to significantly reduce consumption and prevent noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), even as the Region records some of the highest consumption levels in the world, according to two reports released by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The reports, Taxes on alcoholic beverages in the Americas and Taxes on sweetened beverages in the Americas, show that tax levels across the Americas remain below global averages, limiting the effectiveness of one of the most cost-effective public health interventions available.
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NCD Deaths at 83 per cent as Govt Calls for Wider Action
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Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Davidson Ishmael
Photo: Ricardo Roberts/Barbados TODAY |
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Barbados Today: The government is urging businesses and community groups to take a more active role in tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which now account for 83 per cent of adult deaths in Barbados, while costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars each year, health minister Davidson Ishmael said Wednesday.
In a keynote speech to open the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council Health and Wellness Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Ishmael, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, issued a stark warning based on the latest figures. |
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Kick Big Soda Out’s new campaign is geared up to launch on June 4 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (June 11-July 19, 2026)!
Share the campaign across your social channels using this toolkit. This toolkit includes legal guidelines, social media posts, videos, images, a fact sheet and backgrounder.
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Caring for Non-Communicable Diseases During Pregnancy, Expert Convening
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Image: ©Genna Print / WHO
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WHO: The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing new recommendations to improve care for pregnant and postpartum women living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Around the world, more pregnancies are being affected by NCDs such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions, obesity and other long-term health problems. These conditions may already exist before pregnancy or develop during it. NCDs are now a major cause of poor health among women of reproductive age and are increasingly recognized as key contributors to illness and death during pregnancy and childbirth.
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EarthMedic and EarthNurse NGO Weekly Articles
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EarthMedic and EarthNurse are not-for-profits with global scope, with special focus on climate-vulnerable regions, anchored in the Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS), and based in Trinidad and Tobago and England, UK. |
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- New leadership dialogue: Leadership on climate and health
- Reporting from WHO's European Healthy Cities Conference 2026
- Webinar featuring global community voices on global health architecture reform
- World Refugee Day 2026: Not neglecting NCDs in crises
- Lecture by Professor Mark Petticrew on commercial determinants of health, industry playbooks and solutions to protect the science
- The Moth Global Community Programme, diabetes storytelling
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Open Letters and Statements
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PAHO/USF/HCC Social Marketing in Dietary Salt Reduction
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| September 30, 2015 |
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September 2015, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition in partnership with PAHO and the University of South Florida (USF) World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Social buy cheap tramadol hcl 50mg Marketing and Social Change (WHO CC on Social Marketing) is pleased to announce the recent formation of the Caribbean Salt Smart Coalition (CSSC) in Antigua in September 2015 |
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Safeguarding Public Health Nutrition in the Caribbean During Emergencies: Guidelines for Managing Donations from the Commercial Sector
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HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities for the Fourth UN High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (HLM4), 25 September 2025 - FULL DOCUMENT
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HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities for the Fourth UN High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (HLM4), 25 September 2025 - SUMMARY DOCUMENT
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We value the protection and confidentiality of your personal data and we are committed to respecting your privacy. We therefore comply with the applicable data privacy legislation in relation to processing personal data. Our Privacy Policy
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The HCC is a regional network of Caribbean health NGOs and civil society organizations with the remit to combat chronic diseases (NCDs) and their associated risk factors and conditions. Our membership presently consists of more than 65 Caribbean-based health NGOs and over 55 not-for-profit organisations and, in excess of 200 individual members based in the Caribbean and across the globe.
To join the HCC email us at hcc@healthycaribbean.org |
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The work of HCC would not be possible without core funding from Sagicor Life Inc. |
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The HCC promote the work of civil society throughout the Caribbean in a variety of ways including sharing of their materials, this is not an endorsement of their materials or messages. The information contained in this newsletter is for general information purposes only, we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct but any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. Through this newsletter you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the HCC. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
© 2026 Healthy Caribbean Coalition
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