United Nations: A Global Call for Climate Action 5 June
The Earth is already speaking to us—through record-breaking temperatures, more intense wildfires, extreme storms and glaciers disappearing before our eyes. For years, we have said that limiting global warming to 1.5°C is essential to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Today, that threshold is dangerously close to being exceeded—and every fraction of a degree matters. Climate change is no longer a future threat: it is reshaping life across the planet.

Hurricane Beryl has caused devastation on Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Photo: © WFP/Fedel Mansour

The radio cuts to a special bulletin. The meteorological service is giving an update and before the weather man even finishes the sentence, your mother is already counting tins in the pantry. Canned tuna. Milk. Crackers. Your sibling is filling every pot and bucket in the house with water. Grandma is checking the kerosene lamp and the charge on the solar lights, and Daddy is on the verandah looking at the sky the way grandpa taught him. Without anyone saying it out loud, the whole house understands a storm is coming.

There was a time when a strong hurricane was a story told for years. Hurricane Gilbert, 1988, was that kind of storm. It was terrifying as it tore through the Caribbean with a force that left damage, extensive loss and significant mental scars; but, it was also, somehow, singular.

Natalia Burton is an advocate with the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN), Healthy Caribbean Coalition/Youth (HCC/HCY), and UNICEF, focusing on public health and wellbeing

In several countries across the Caribbean, a student can leave school in uniform, walk into a nearby shop, or send a quick Instagram message to an online vendor and purchase a vape with little difficulty. Some are drawn in by flavours like cherry, bubble gum and cotton candy, while others see them promoted online as sleek, harmless or stress relieving. 

What many young people are not being told is that vapes are not all the same. Some contain nicotine, especially many disposable devices and pod systems, while others are labelled “nicotine-free” or “0% nicotine” but still contain flavours that appeal to children and adolescents. Nicotine is highly addictive and can seriously affect young people’s mental health, learning, physical wellbeing and long-term development, while even nicotine-free vapes can help normalise vaping and make it seem harmless.

Media Coverage:

Barbados Today

Dominica News Online

St. Vincent Times

Antigua Newsroom

Caribbean Today

Aaliyah Lara is a member of Healthy Caribbean Youth and a medical student at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine with a strong passion for the advocacy of non-communicable diseases and reproductive health, especially in young persons

‘I felt as though the walls were closing in on me, my heart beating out of my chest, struggling for a single breath with a cough that just won’t quit. My body was on fire and the first meal I've been able to stomach in days is making its way back up’. This is the perspective one would expect from a 60 year old lifelong cigarette smoker, instead these were symptoms of a 16 year old boy in Trinidad and Tobago/my patient/a patient I was observing admitted to the hospital due to vaping. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled the theme for World No Tobacco Day, 2026 as “Unmasking The Appeal: Countering Nicotine And Tobacco Addiction”. This mission encompasses not just raising awareness of the issues at hand but also advocating for stronger policies and providing education surrounding these addictive products. A primary goal of this campaign is to highlight that the nicotine and tobacco industry has reformed their marketing in an effort to target children and adolescents.

Media Coverage:

SKN Vibes

ANN

Demerara Waves

Antigua Newsroom

This report highlights that among individuals aged 13 to 15 years in the 35 PAHO Member States, the highest prevalence of current tobacco use (25.3%) was reported in the Caribbean, noting that ENDS/ENNDS use is also widespread and on the increase in the Caribbean. The report also makes recommendations to CARICOM governments—and their key partners and stakeholders—for priority actions to prevent and reduce ENDS/ENNDS use and harms among young people in the Caribbean.

More HCC Resources:

HCC Tobacco Advocacy

HCC Youth Tobacco Advocacy Portal

World No Tobacco Day is all about empowering young people to make informed choices for a healthier future. Students at Meadowbrook High School engaged in interactive activities and discussions highlighting the dangers of tobacco use, vaping, and addiction. By educating youth today, we can help create a healthier, tobacco-free generation tomorrow. 

Protect Youth. Prevent Addiction. Say No to Tobacco and Vaping.

Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) Calls for Urgent Action

JCTC: The Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) is joining the global observance of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2026 under the theme “Unmasking the Appeal – Countering Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction.” 

On May 31st, Saint Lucia joins the global community in observing World No Tobacco Day and bringing awareness about the dangers and health risks associated with the use of tobacco. Let us take the opportunity to highlight the health, social and environmental consequences of tobacco use. Make that decision and don't get trapped nicotine and tobacco addiction. Nicotine and tobacco can affect the brain, therefore make the decision to avoid falling into nicotine addiction. Instead take proactive steps to prevent dependency on nicotine and tobacco. 

The numbers don't lie. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2025 reveals that 37.2% of girls and 34.4% of boys in Saint Lucia have used vapes at least once. Same product. Same chemicals. Same dangers. It also revealed that 1 in 3 students are currently considering starting tobacco or e-cigarette use, they haven't started yet. This statistic is not just a warning it is an opportunity. These students are at a crossroads. With the right information, the right conversations, and the right support, we can help them choose their health over the hype. 

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition is calling on parents, educators and young people, do not be fooled.

Saint Lucia Times: Saint Lucia is intensifying its national response to tobacco use among young people as health officials raise concern over the growing popularity of vaping and other nicotine products. “The tobacco industry continues to evolve its tactics by targeting young people with colourful packaging, attractive flavours, and misleading marketing strategies designed to make these products appear harmless,” the Substance Abuse Advisory Council Secretariat stated in a press release, as the island observes World No Tobacco Day today, May 31.

Tobacco and nicotine industries design their products to get young people stuck in a cycle of addiction. The grip of tobacco and nicotine addiction can be broken.

Related Articles:

Stronger action to protect youth from tobacco and nicotine addiction

Unmasking the appeal – countering nicotine and tobacco addiction

Fight back against the tobacco and nicotine industry

Unmask the appeal – countering tobacco and nicotine addiction

WHO urges governments to protect young people from addiction

The Part-Time Finance Assistant will support the day-to-day financial administration of the HCC and its projects, including accurate financial record keeping, financial tracking and budget monitoring, timely reconciliations, donor financial reporting, and strong documentation and compliance practices. The role is ideal for a detail-oriented and highly organised individual who is comfortable working within a small, dynamic regional civil society organisation environment and supporting multiple projects.

The deadline for submission of applications is Monday 15 June 2026.

Unhealthy Food and Drink Brands in Our Schools?

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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.

Health Policy Watch: Tobacco companies have helped to engineer ultra-processed food (UPF) and scale up the industry, developing and distributing addictive products that are driving obesity, cancer, dementia and chronic diseases like diabetes. This is according to one of the most comprehensive reviews of the drivers and impact of UFP, published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) on Wednesday.

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.

FAO Subregional Office for the Caribbean  Join an inspiring webinar on Food Loss and Waste, centering around SDG 12.3.1 and considering the unique challenges and opportunities in the Caribbean. The webinar will share global best practices as well as lessons learned from the recently completed Field Test of food loss in the Soursop, Banana and Sweet Potato Value Chains in Grenada.

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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World No Tobacco Day 2018

World No Tobacco Day 2018 will focus on the impact tobacco has on the cardiovascular health of people worldwide. Every year, on 31 May, WHO and partners mark World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), highlighting the health and other risks associated with tobacco use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.