CARICOM Secretariat in partnership with PAHO, CARPHA and HCC hosted a successful high-level side event at the HLM4 attended by many including: CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett; The Honourable Philip Davis Prime Minister of The Bahamas; The Hon. Dickon Mitchell Prime Minister of Grenada; Dr. The Honourable Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health of Jamaica; Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO/WHO Director; Dr. Lisa Indar, Executive Director of CARPHA and key global partners including NCD Alliance and the World Bank.

Prime Minister Davis delivered outstanding opening remarks addressing a range of issues including mental health and the intersection with climate change and the commercial determinants of health, stating that ‘regulation of harmful commercial practices is not a luxury it is protection of our citizens’ and ‘ we must confront the commercial forces driving diseases’. Prime Minister Mitchell of Grenada praised HEARTS and underscored the shared risk factors for mental health and NCDS and the need to place measures in place to identify risk of harm and suicide in young people. The Honourable Minister Tufton wrapped up the event highlighting the importance of Caribbean solidarity.

Dr. Kenneth Connnell, President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

HCC President Dr. Kenneth Connnell and Executive Director attended the HLM4 and participated in the Plenary Session and the 1st Multistakeholder panel where Dr. Connell delivered an intervention from the floor. You can view Dr. Connell’s reading of the intervention here.

The Honourable Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis

CARICOM Representation at the Plenary Session: Nine (9) CARICOM countries represented by Heads of Government and Ministers of Health delivered remarks during the Plenary session: The Republic of Suriname, Saint Kitts and Nevis on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Guyana. The Honourable Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis,  presented comments on behalf of CARICOM. His remarks acknowledged the important role of civil society with a specific mention of Healthy Caribbean Coalition. Prime Minister Drew in his comments also noted with concern that the Political Declaration did not reflect the urgency of the NCD crisis pointing to insufficiently bold targets.

Dr. The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott, Senior Minister, Ministry of Health and Wellness of Barbados

Senator Dr. The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott, Senior Minister, Ministry of Health and Wellness of Barbados participated in a High-Level Side Event entitled: “One Vision, One Future: Rallying Global Momentum on NCDs for Generations to Come” at UNHQ on September 24, 2025. Minister Walcott’s comments touched on key steps Barbados has taken including taxation of SSBs, addressing childhood obesity in schools, investment in primary health care, upcoming trans fat legislation, partnerships across sectors and the role of the commercial sector. The recording of the side event can be found here.

For more on the HLM4, including seeing CARICOM country interventions, visit the WHO page here where you can view recordings from the Plenary and the 2 panels.

Visit the HLM4 WHO Media page here.

See more pictures from the HLM4 here. 

Centre: Laura Tucker Longsworth speaking at PAHO 62nd Directing Council

With the support of the NCD Alliance, Laura Tucker Longsworth represented the HCC at the PAHO 62nd Directing Council along with other civil society advocates including CLAS. One of the key agenda items was the approval of the Plan of Action on Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control 2025–2030. HCC and partners including CLAS delivered a statement in response to the Plan.

L/R: Beatriz Champagne, Executive Director Healthy Americas’ Coalition (CLAS), Dr.James Hospedales, Founder and Director of Earth Medic Earth Nurse and Board Member of the HCC and Laura Tucker Longsworth, NCD Alliance Board Member and former HCC Board Member

Dr. James Hospedales, Board Member of the HCC, also attended the Directing Council in his capacity as Founder and Director of Earth Medic Earth Nurse, engaging with CARICOM Ministries of Health to maintain focus on the climate and health agenda. See some more photos here.

For more on the Directing Council check out the links below:

62nd Directing Council

PAHO’s 62nd Directing Council concludes with new strategic plan to advance health in the Americas

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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.

Sweet Talk Campaign. Let’s End the Sweet Talk and Make Antigua and Barbuda Healthier

Heart & Stroke Foundation of Antigua and Barbuda: The Sweet Talk campaign raises awareness about the health risks of sugary drinks— including diabetes, tooth decay, and heart disease. Through real stories from those affected and health experts, it builds support for a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax. 

"Sweet Talk" highlights how these drinks have become so normal that their dangers are often ignored. This campaign aims to change that for a healthier Antigua and Barbuda.

Heart Foundation of Jamaica Mass Media Campaign - The Time is Now

The Heart Foundation of Jamaica has launched another healthy food policy mass media campaign entitled “The Time is Now” to highlight that more than 23% of Jamaican children aged 13- 17 years are overweight and/or obese and that consuming foods high in sugars, fats, and sodium can lead to obesity and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and other NCDs. 

The campaign draws attention to the presence of unhealthy foods and drinks in the school environment and issues a clear call to action for policymakers, parents, guardians, and the wider Jamaican society to urgently implement and support the national school nutrition policy, respectively. The central message is: “Let’s implement the national school nutrition policy." This is against the background that the national school nutrition policy was approved by the Cabinet earlier this year but is yet to be rolled out in schools.

See some pictures from the event here.

Watch the campaign video here.

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.

Let Your Pain Speak -  Webinar

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PAHO: Organized in the context of World Mental Health Day 2025. This year, the theme aimed to underscore and elevate the importance of child and adolescent mental health as a regional priority in the Americas, recognizing it as a fundamental human right and a cornerstone for sustainable social and economic development.

PAHO officially launched its virtual course titled “Improving the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Primary Care”, designed to strengthen the capacity of health services to respond effectively and in a timely manner to the needs of this population.

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 Stroke Day 2025: Shining a Light on Heart Attacks and Strokes in Barbados

Barbados National Registry:  By the early 2000s, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) had become the dominant global health threat, yet most countries lacked even the most basic data to guide prevention. In response, the World Health Assembly (WHA), in resolution WHA53.17, issued a landmark call for global action—to map emerging epidemics, reduce exposure to modifiable risk factors, and strengthen care for people living with NCDs. The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) STEPwise Approach to NCD Risk Factor Surveillance (WHO STEPS), launched soon after, was a direct response: a simple, standardized framework for countries to track behavioral and biological risk factors.

UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage HCC Technical Brief

First United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage - Technical Brief for CARICOM Countries: A Contribution from Civil SocietyThis Technical Brief is a step in building the capacity of the Ministries of Health (MoH) and Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to participate actively in preparatory processes for the First UN High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (HLM-UHC) scheduled for 23 September 2019 and negotiations for the development of the Political Declaration that will be the outcome document of the meeting