Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by hurricane Melissa.

The purpose of this resource is to safeguard public health nutrition in the Caribbean during emergencies by providing guidelines for the management of donations from the commercial sector. 

These Guidelines provide guidance on the types of food, beverage, financial and inkind donations, that provide healthy, nutritious food options and protect the diets of Caribbean people in need (including people living with noncommunicable diseases or NCDs), particularly during emergency response situations.

The Guidelines are based on the principles of human rights and equity that entitle every Caribbean person, including those who are vulnerable (such as PLWNCDs or children) or living in vulnerable conditions (such as emergency situations), access to adequate food.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARHPA), EarthMedic and EarthNurse Foundation for Planetary Health, and the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) adapted and updated a series of brochures originally developed by Dr. Saria Hassan (ECHORN with funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute).

This series of eight brochures was developed to support people in the English-speaking Caribbean who are living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, mental health conditions, and cancer, in preparing for and managing their health during natural disasters.

World Diabetes Day 2025 - Know More and Do More for Diabetes at Work

Please share any plans that you have to recognise World Diabetes Day in the community or in the workplace.

Email hcc@healthycaribbean.org

Advocacy Group Targets Workplaces Amid Diabetes Surge

Dr Kedhma Dorh, President of the Saint Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association 

 Photo: Dr Kedhma Dorh 

St Lucia Times: With diabetes rates climbing steadily in Saint Lucia, health officials are urging a national wake-up call. 

Dr Kedhma Dorh, president of the Saint Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association (SLDHA), warns that the condition remains a significant and growing concern. 

“The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that about 11.4 per cent of Saint Lucian adults live with diabetes,” he told St. Lucia Times, noting a sharp rise from 8.4 per cent in 2011. “Essentially, we seem to have an increasing trend of new cases.”

PAHO Helps Belize Fight Diabetes

Amandala: Belizeans living with Type-2 diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will now have easier access to health care and treatment at their nearest polyclinic or community health clinic through a new project funded by the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), which the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) launched in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Tuesday, October 28.

The Diabetes Care Integration Project will integrate diabetes management services into primary healthcare facilities nationwide to ensure that communities have better access to effective care and prevention. Both ministry and PAHO officials have evaluated current practices firsthand to determine how diabetes care can be better integrated into everyday healthcare services, by visiting rural and urban health centers. The team saw how local health centers are managing diabetes care during their site visits, as they gained valuable insights into what works best, and identified the gaps in services and care across the country, which need strengthening.

Photo: CNW website 

CNW: According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), roughly 12.5% of adults in Jamaica are living with diabetes, while estimates across the North America and Caribbean region suggest more than 56 million adults are affected. Many cases remain undiagnosed; studies indicate that up to one in three adults with diabetes in the Caribbean may not even know they have the condition. The consequences are serious, including blindness, kidney disease, heart complications, and amputations, not to mention the economic burden on individuals and public health systems.

HCC Consultant Call

HCC is looking for consultants with expertise in the following areas to engage in short-term consultancies:

• Monitoring and evaluation including development of M&E plans and accountability frameworks;
• Coalition building, membership strengthening and engagement;
• Social participation and meaningful engagement in governance structures;
• Novel approaches to low-cost, secure patient database development for CSOs.

If you are interested, please send an email to:

hcc@healthycaribbean.org with the subject HCC Consultant Call: [insert area of expertise].

PAHO: In recognition of World Mental Health Day 2025, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) brought together partners and young people from across the Eastern Caribbean for a dynamic and inspiring forum under the theme “Breaking the Silence: Commercial Determinants of Mental Health.” The event, held on 10 October 2025, spotlighted the often-overlooked commercial influences shaping mental health outcomes and celebrated the energy, insight, and leadership of the youth driving change in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries. 

The forum was hosted in partnership with Let’s Unpack It (LUI), the Healthy Caribbean Youth (HCY), Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Eastern Caribbean, Ministry of Education Technological and Vocational Training and the Ministry of Health and Wellness Barbados, it was a landmark step in amplifying youth voices and bridging the gap between science, policy, and lived experience.

Click/Tap to play 

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.

Image: WHO website 

WHO: This landmark report from the WHO Commission on Social Connection highlights that social isolation and loneliness are widespread, with serious but under-recognized impacts on health, well-being, and society. Drawing on the latest evidence, the report makes a compelling case for urgent action. It outlines practical, scalable solutions to strengthen social connection – and calls on policy-makers, researchers and all sectors to treat social health with the same urgency as physical and mental health. The Commissioners envision a future where stronger social bonds improve well-being, reduce preventable deaths, boost education and economic resilience, and ease the social and financial burden of disconnection. This report is a call to act – and an invitation to build a more connected, healthier world.

Related media: Youth Declaration on Social Connection

Benches Champion Breastfeeding in Public Spaces

Barbados Today: A new initiative aimed at championing breastfeeding support across Barbados saw its public launch last weekend, as the Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Foundation (BCNF), working in partnership with Antilles Outdoor, unveiled the country’s first series of public markers promoting breastfeeding awareness. 

Four brightly branded benches have now appeared at Belleville, Sunset Crest, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Randall Phillips Polyclinic, each featuring a striking message: “See It. Support It”. The benches are designed to help normalise and celebrate breastfeeding in public, with a clear reminder that mothers deserve comfort, respect, and encouragement as they feed their children.

Lessons Learned from Hurricane Melissa

An aerial view of Falmouth, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa

Photo: AP 

Trinidad & Tobago Guardian: Dr James Hospedales, Founder/Managing Director of Earth Medic Earth Nurse and HCC Board Member.

I once lived through a Hurricane – Marilyn in St Kitts, 1995. I spent a sleepless night at the Fort George Hotel in Basseterre, as the winds howled and buildings shook from time to time. Marilyn was a Category 1 (CAT-1) storm with winds of 74-95 mph, like a pace ball in cricket. I can’t imagine a CAT-5. At the time, I was an epidemiologist at CAREC serving on the Pan American Health Organisation, Caribbean Disaster Response Team. Our first mobilisation was to Jamaica after Hurricane Gilbert in 1987, a CAT-3 hurricane (111-129 mph winds). Then, Montserrat, after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, a CAT-4 hurricane (130-156 mph winds) which destroyed most homes, stripped leaves off all the trees and left the island eerily silent as no birds could be heard.

Accountability: Tracking NCD Progress in CARICOM

HCC: Check out our updated dedicated webpage on tracking NCD progress in CARICOM.. 

LOHC Digital Launch - A One Health Perspective on Today’s Health and Sustainability Challenges

Click/tap to play

Lancet One Health Commission (LOHC):  Alafia Samuels HCC Policy and Practice Advisor is one of the Comissioners..

The Lancet One Health Commission offers a recalibrated understanding of how contemporary global health challenges are implicated within the complex interconnectedness of humans, animals, and our shared environment, and to provide an approach for harnessing this knowledge to ensure a sustainably healthy future.

PAHOTV: Provide an overview of tobacco control as an essential strategy for preventing and managing NCDs.

Journal of Public Mental Health: We’re excited to announce a new special issue on 'Physical and Mental Health: The journey to integration (promotion, prevention, care and recovery)' led by a fantastic team of guest editors: Dr Antonis Kousoulis MD, DrPH, Stephanie Whiteman, MPH, John Pateña, DrPH, MPH, MA and Tabitha Ellis! 

This issue aims to improve our understanding of integration of physical and mental health and offer solutions. We welcome submissions from academics, policy makers, practitioners, NGOs and people with lived experience.

Submission Deadline: 30 April 2026.

World Health Day 2016

WHO calls for global action to halt rise in and improve care for people with diabetes. The number of people living with diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults, with most living in developing countries. Factors driving this dramatic rise include overweight and obesity, WHO announced ahead of World Health Day.