Friday, March 29, 2024

Caricom’s focus on health

Date:

Share post:

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) health ministers began a two-day meeting here today with a call for much more to be done to preserve the health of the region’s population, especially in areas of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
The ministers attending the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) were meeting here under the theme Promoting Equity in Human Development through Public Health.
Guyana’s Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who is also the COHSOD chairman, said that while the region had made significant strides in health development, it had lagged in critical areas. 
Pointing to the issue of NCDs, Dr Ramsammy noted that one of the risk factors – tobacco use – was still at an alarmingly high level and that the Caribbean’s progress towards meeting its obligations to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was “slow at best.”
CARICOM had agreed to the implementation of the FCTC especially as it relates to Article 13 which seeks to control tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.  However, to date, three Caribbean countries have not ratified the FCTC. 
Dr Ramsammy called for the establishment of regional standards in tobacco control, adding that the proposals regarding labeling and pictorial messages on tobacco which had been supported by health ministers “have remained on the shelf of the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) and are not moving.
“If we cannot move to adequately warn the public about a substance that is a killer and acknowledge even by manufacturers that it is a killer, then the battle seems lost,” he said.
CARICOM acting Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite agreed that greater investment in health was an imperative. (CMC)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Related articles

No decision yet on Lester Vaughan School

A firm decision has not yet been made regarding when the Lester Vaughan School will be reopened. Following a...

BDF to conduct simulation exercise on April 2 & 3

The Barbados Defence Force (BDF) will conduct a Mass Casualty Simulation Exercise from Tuesday, April 2, to Wednesday,...

Barbadians reminded to file taxes online as filing season starts

The Barbados Revenue Authority (the BRA) is advising that tax filing season for 2023 begins on April 1 this...

Minister Abrahams’ statement on Ismail Patel’s passing

Below is the full statement by Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams: I was saddened to...