The Secretariat of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), in close collaboration with, and input from, HCC Member Diabetes Associations, developed this policy brief on diabetes prevention and control in the Caribbean, in the context of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Diabetes Compact (GDC), which was launched in April 2021.
The brief was developed as a resource and advocacy tool, and to guide the prioritisation and implementation of diabetes-related policies in the Caribbean in the short-, medium-, and long-term, especially in the wake of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, ongoing at the time of writing. It recommends priority areas for policy development for diabetes prevention and control, and the protection of persons living with diabetes (PLWDs).
The brief targets primarily Ministers of Health of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as they prepare for the 74th World Health Assembly in May 2021, and beyond. Secondarily, it provides a framework in which civil society organisations (CSOs) and other advocates for diabetes prevention and control can agitate for policy development and support implementation of the policies.
View or download The Global Diabetes Compact: Diabetes Prevention and Control in the Caribbean Policy Brief here.
View or download the full set of Policy Asks here or Policy Asks ‘at a glance’ here.
The brief recognises that, 100 years after the discovery of insulin, life-saving treatment remains out of reach for many, and that diabetes prevention and control in the Caribbean, as in other regions of the world, remains sub-optimal. It notes with alarm that increases in diabetes prevalence, associated with increases in overweight and obesity—among other factors—pose an existential threat to the health of the people of the region and the equitable, sustainable development of Caribbean countries. It also recognises the value that CSOs such as diabetes associations in the Caribbean, most of which are members of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), can bring to the table in developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating policies for diabetes prevention and control, individually and through their networks.
The brief is aligned with the GDC and the HCC’s January 2021 Transformative New Agenda for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (TNA-NCDs) in the Caribbean. Both the TNA-NCDs and the GDC recognise the delays in progress to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 and target 3.4, which are those most directly related to health and NCDs, respectively.
This activity was conducted thanks to an NCD Alliance’s 2020 Act on NCDs Campaign Fuel Award, as part of NCD Alliance’s partnership with Access Accelerate.