GTT is urging Guyanese to help that company raise GY$30 million to fight breast cancer and other cancers, amid staggering figures about that disease in this South American nation. GTT spokeswoman, Jasmin Harris says the money will be used raise awareness, screening and diagnosis. Key activities for the remainder of October/Pintokber are medical outreaches in ...

OPEN LETTER

to the National Standards Bodies of CARICOM

in reference to the

CARICOM Member State Voting on the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labeling of pre-packaged foods (FDCRS 5)

4 October, 2023

Dear CARICOM National Standards Bodies,

We are writing as leaders in health and nutrition across the Caribbean to urge your stakeholders representing diverse sectors of society and senior policymakers in Ministries of Trade, Commerce, Business, Finance, and Agriculture, to support the approval of the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labeling of pre-packaged foods (FDCRS 5), which includes the octagonal front-of-package warning label and the PAHO Nutrient Profile Model.

Caribbean people deserve the best nutritional labelling system to reduce malnutrition in all its forms—including undernutrition and overnutrition—and improve their health.

Among various nutritional labelling systems, scientific evidence, including from the Caribbean region, underscores the superior effectiveness of the octagonal warning label, which empowers consumers to quickly, correctly, and easily identify products with unhealthy nutritional profiles.

Caribbean countries have some of the world’s most alarming rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and obesity. These conditions not only place immense strain on our healthcare systems, but also pose a significant threat to our economic stability, and, as underscored in the recent Bridgetown Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health, they jeopardize our regional development objectives and the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

At the heart of these diet-related health challenges lies the overconsumption of foods high in sodium/salt, sugar, and fats – a situation which is in part due to the lack of awareness of the content of many foods. Current nutrition labels are difficult to read and understand and are often misleading.

Caribbean people deserve access to a labelling system that has proven its effectiveness in helping consumers make informed food choices.

Studies conducted globally, as well as regionally in Jamaica and in Barbados, show that the octagonal warning label outperforms all other labels in allowing consumers to quickly, easily, and correctly identify foods high in sodium/salt, sugar, and fats.[1] In Barbados, the introduction of octagonal warning labels has the potential to reduce NCD deaths by 16%, while saving the government in excess of 700 million US dollars in mortality costs annually.[2]

The impact of the octagonal warning labeling system extends far beyond the supermarket aisle. It has the capacity to easily identify those food products which should be regulated in various settings, including schools, and be subjected to taxation (unhealthy products) and subsidies (healthy products). The HCC and partners’ newly launched campaign, ‘Octagonal Warning Labels help consumers #ActOnFacts’ speaks to this and the other co-benefits of implementing this labelling standard.

The time to act is now.

The time to act is now, as we echo the commitment made by Caribbean Heads of State and Government in the 2007 Declaration of Port of Spain to address the “epidemic of chronic NCDs” by prioritising the prevention of NCDs through strong policies. Approval of this Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard and the octagonal warning label not only honours this historic commitment, but also represents a significant step towards safeguarding the nutrition and health of our citizens, particularly those living with obesity and NCDs. The rising levels of childhood obesity in the region and the associated increased risk of NCDs, heighten the imperative for action; Caribbean people have a right to simple and easily understood information about the food they consume; right now, they do not.

Our collective voices build on the signatures of support from over 400 Caribbean public health professionals, academics, and ordinary citizens, and over 40 regional organisations.

We implore your stakeholders to consider the urgency of this matter and the profound impact that your decision will have on the immediate and future nutrition, health, and well-being of Caribbean people, and, by extension, national and regional development.

By approving the Final Draft CARICOM Regional Standard for Specification for labelling of pre-packaged foods and the octagonal warning label, through a fair and balanced vote including all key stakeholders, you will send a clear message of commitment to improve the lives of citizens across CARICOM and securing a healthier future for the region.

SIGNED

REGIONAL PARTNERS

Sir Trevor Hassell, President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC)

Mr. Dean Chambliss, Subregional Program Director for the Caribbean, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)

Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General, OECS Commission

Mr. Pieter Bult, Representative EC, UNICEF Eastern Caribbean

Mrs. Nicole Foster, Law Lecturer & Head, Law and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus.

Professor Simon Anderson, Director of the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre (GA-CDRC)

HCC PATRON

Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus, PAHO

NCD COMMISSION CHAIRS

Mr. Suleiman Bulbulia, Chair, Barbados National NCD Commission

Dr. Trevor Ferguson, Chair, Jamaica National NCD Commission

Dr. Jane Noel, Chair, Grenada National NCD Commission

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION PARTNERS

Dr. Vanessa White-Barrow, President, Caribbean Association of Nutritionist and Dieticians

Ms. Debbie Chen, Executive Director, Heart Foundation of Jamaica

Ms. Abi Begho, Founder and Programme Director, Lake Health and Wellbeing

Dr. Karen Sealey, Founder and Chair, Trinidad and Tobago NCD Alliance

Dr. Sonia Nixon, Chair, Grenada Cancer Society

Ms. Laura Tucker-Longsworth, Founder and Chair of the Belize Cancer Society, Former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Belize

Shannique Bowden, Executive Director, Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network

Ms. Janice Olliver-Creese, President, St Vincent and the Grenadines Diabetes & Hypertension Ass Inc

Ms. Juanita James, President, Antigua and Barbuda Diabetes Association

Dr. Nancy Charles Larco, Executive Director, Fondation Haïtienne de Diabète et de Maladies Cardiovasculaires, Haiti

Dr. Tamara Remy, President, St. Lucia Cancer Society

View/download the open letter here

[1] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/4/e065620

[2] https://iris.paho.org/bitstream/handle/10665.2/57989/PAHONMHRF230040_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

The post Open Letter to the National Standards Bodies of CARICOM appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

Octagonal warning labels help consumers #ActOnFacts and presenting science-based evidence in support of the octagonal warning label (OWL) contained within the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5).

Read the press release for the webinar here.

The webinar was attended by over 200 participants from across the region.

Webinar Goal and Objectives

The goal of the webinar was to provide an update on the status of the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5) which contains the octagonal front of package warning label and share evidence in support of octagonal warning labels as a key measure to catalyse the reshaping of food environments in the Caribbean.

The objectives of the webinar were:

1. To promote the campaign “Octagonal Warning Labels help consumers #ACTONFACTS ” in support of the Final Draft of the CARICOM Regional Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (FDCRS 5) which contains the OWL as defined by the PAHO nutrient profile model.
2. To increase public awareness of the detrimental impact of ultra-processed products high in sugars, fats and sodium and the role of the ‘high-in’ octagonal front of package warning labels (OWL) in promoting healthier food choices.
3. To provide policymakers and policy influencers with a comprehensive understanding of FOPWL, specifically OWL, and to present robust scientific evidence underpinning the use of OWL and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) to guide OWL thresholds.
4. To provide science-based evidence to correct misinformation about OWL including the false narrative that OWL negatively impacts trade and the economy.
5. To encourage both the public and policymakers support for OWL and the FDCRS-5.

Overall Moderator

Ms. Maisha Hutton
Executive Director
HCC

Partners

Sir Trevor Hassell
President
HCC

Dr. Anselm Hennis
Director, Department of NCDs
and Mental Health
PAHO

Dr. Lisa Indar
Director, Surveillance, Disease
Prevention and Control Division
CARPHA

Dr. Didacus Jules
Director General
OECS Commission

Mr. Pieter Bult
UNICEF
Representative to the
Eastern Caribbean Area

Panellists

Ms. Tamie Marie
Communication Consultant
HCC

Ms. Samantha Moitt
Chief Nutrition Officer,
Nutrition Unit
Ministry of Health,Wellness
and the Environment
Antigua and Barbuda

Mr. Luis Galicia
PAHO International Consultant
Sodium Reduction

Dr. Fabio da Silva Gomes
Advisor Nutrition and Physical
Activity
PAHO

Ms. Nicole Foster
Lecturer, Faculty of Law
and Head of Law
and Health Research Unit

Ms. Isabel Barbosa
Senior Associate
Adjunct Professor of Law
O’Neill Institute for National
and Global Health Law
Georgetown University
Law Center

Ms. Xarriah Nicholls
Youth Advocate
Person living with an NCD
Healthy Caribbean Youth

The post What Is Happening With Food Labels in CARICOM? appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

AbbVie has said a late-stage study of its experimental combination therapy failed to meaningfully increase the survival rate of patients without the disease worsening. Reuters Health Information

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Although some industry players propose alternative labelling options, with our people’s health on the line, we need the label that is backed by sound, scientific research; and the Octagonal Warning Label (OWL) is 9 TIMES more effective at helping us quickly, correctly and easily identify products that are high in sugars, sodium and fats than other labeling system.

THE OCTAGONAL WARNING LABEL IS AT THE CENTRE OF A WIDER STRATEGY!

The Octagonal Warning Label enables other healthy food policies because it clearly and effectively identifies products that are high in sugars, sodium and fats and, therefore, harmful to health of our families and children.

This means it makes it easier to design, implement and enforce healthy policies like:

• Regulating the sale and marketing of these unhealthy food products in and around schools, and school settings like youth sporting events
• Regulating the marketing of these foods to children
• Taxing unhealthy food products and subsidising healthy foods

So, the Octagonal Warning Label is a crucial launchpad for these policies that can protect our children and families, and also make it easier and more affordable for citizens to make healthy food choices.

THIS VOTE AND THESE POLICIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!

Modern diets lack fresh, minimally processed food and are inundated with ultra- processed food products high in sugar, fats and salt which lead to our region’s biggest killers: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and even some cancers.

With these ultra-processed food products being made easily accessible, attractively marketed, cheap and convenient, it’s more important than ever to have clear facts about the food we buy and consume.

That clarity can go a long way toward helping us make healthier food choices and protect our families and children from the harmful results of unhealthy options.

It is a step toward rebuilding the health of our population one family, one meal, one choice at a time!

PEOPLE LIVING WITH DIET-RELATED DISEASES NEED CLEAR NUTRITIONAL FACTS!

Everyone should to be able to correctly and easily identify foods high in sugar, sodium and fats.

But, for people living with living with diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity and even some cancers, clarity and honesty can actually help to control their conditions, and ultimately save their lives by helping them make better, healthier choices in the long-term!

IT’S JUST EASIER TO MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES WHEN THE FACTS ARE CLEAR!

Appealing and persuasive package designs, clever marketing and misleading claims on packaging, and confusing nutrition labels can often lead to unhealthy food products being mistaken as “good for us”. Consumers need help to combat these tactics.

This is why we need a label that provides clear facts that let us quickly, correctly and easily identify unhealthy food products.

CAMPAIGN AT A GLANCE

Launch Date: Monday | 25 SEPTEMBER, 2023

Locale: Regional/Caribbean

Type: Social Media Campaign

Purpose: To advocate and build support for the current final draft regional standard for labelling pre-packaged foods, which includes the octagonal front-of-package warning labelling system.

In October 2023, CARICOM countries voted on whether to approve the Octagonal Warning Labels or not. Thanks to everyone who signed the petition in support of the Octagonal Warning Label!

1470

People Signed (including Caribbean Academics, Researchers and Health Practitioners)

RELATED RESOURCES

The post Octagonal Warning Labels Help Consumers Act on Facts appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

The post AbbVie establishes new €23 million European manufacturing services hub in North Dublin appeared first on Irish Medical Times.

This evidence-based strategy is known to support consumers in making healthier choices, aiming to combat non-communicable diseases, overweight, and obesity.

In a collaborative effort, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), comprising  local civil society organisations and allies, orchestrated a regional Call to Action on Saturday, September 16th, at 11:00 AM AST/10:00 AM JA time across several CARICOM territories, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica,  St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Civil Society Organisations in St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago supported the effort virtually.

The event highlighted regional civil society organisation support for the High In octagonal warning labels across the Caribbean and garnered the public’s perspectives on the implementation of High In front of package nutrition warning labelling across the Caribbean. This call to action served as a reminder to CARICOM leaders that they have committed to fast-tracking policies to address obesity in children and more broadly, tackling unhealthy food environments and NCDs.

After its successful adoption in Chile, octagonal Front of Package Warning Labelling (FOPWL) has been subsequently introduced in Peru (2019), Mexico (2020), and Uruguay (2020).  Chile saw decreases in household volume of high-sweetened beverages and general products with ‘high-in’ labels. In Mexico, octagonal warning labels are projected to reduce caloric intake by 14.7% over five years, potentially saving the country an estimated US$1.8 billion in obesity-related costs.[1] It’s important to note that FOPWL does not harm trade; any short-term costs are outweighed by long-term health benefits and healthcare savings. Studies conducted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Jamaica,[2] PAHO[3] and other partners have shown that the octagonal High In warning label system effectively aids consumers in identifying products with excessive critical nutrients, which, when consumed excessively, raise the risk of overweight, obesity, and NCDs. Recent research by the University of the West Indies and PAHO, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, also underscores the substantial health and economic impact of octagonal warning labels by revealing that these labels could prevent 16% of NCD-related deaths in Barbados, potentially saving USD 732.8 million.[4]

The implementation of this labelling system aligns with CARICOM mandates, including the 2007 Port of Spain Declaration, the Communiqués of the 37th and 39th Conference of Heads of State and Government, the CARPHA 6-point policy package addressing obesity, and the PAHO Plan of Action for Obesity Prevention in Children and Adolescents. If the Standard is approved and endorsed, the Caribbean will join a growing number of countries that use the octagonal warning label regulations to combat obesity and NCDs, and ultimately protect the rights of their citizens to know what is in their food.

[1] Predicting obesity reduction after implementing warning labels in Mexico: A modeling study: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1...
[[2] Superior Efficacy of Front-of-Package Warning Labels in Jamaica: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/53328
[[3] White-Barrow V, Gomes FS, Eyre S, et alEffects of front-of-package nutrition labelling systems on understanding and purchase intention in Jamaica: results from a multiarm randomised controlled trialBMJ Open 2023;13:e065620. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065620
[4] Front-of-package warning labels save lives and resources: results from a modeling study in Barbados: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/57989

The post Civil Society Organisations Call for Octagonal Front of Package Warning Labelling Amidst Regional Vote! appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

Several food and beverage industry actors that sell and market unhealthy products, such as those high in salt, sugars and fats and often ultra-processed, are freely entering Caribbean schools with motives that do not have children’s best interests at heart.

In keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals, especially target 3.4 on noncommunicable diseases and mental health, as well as regional commitments by Caribbean Heads of Government, schools must be health-promoting spaces and safeguard the rights of children, including their rights to health and well-being, adequate and nutritious food, accurate information, privacy and non-exploitation, among other rights. However, some actors are interested in selling and marketing products, many of which are contrary to the realisation of these and other children’s rights.

Within the school food environment — wherever food and information about food are available in school settings —- the influence of these actors is of great concern. This presents a conflict of interest. The Healthy Caribbean Coalition defines conflict of interest as “a situation in which the concerns or aims of two different parties are incompatible, resulting in competing priorities and interests, with undue influence that interferes with performance, the decision-making process, or outcomes, putting objectivity and fairness at risk, often for institutional or personal gain.”

Should industry profit motives supersede children’s rights within Caribbean school settings? The answer should be obvious – no! Yet, within small, close-knit Caribbean countries, and especially in the typically cash-strapped schools, conflicts of interest occur often as some actors sell and market their unhealthy brands and products to children. Alarm bells ought to be going off whenever the physical and digital school spaces are breached to allow unhealthy food and beverage actors to profit at the expense of our nations’ youth.

With schools across the Caribbean reopening, we wish to sound the alarm about conflicts of interest in school food environments – spaces which are so key to shaping children.

Conflict of interest alarm bells in Caribbean schools

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition tracks instances of conflicts of interest involving the unhealthy food and beverage industry across the Caribbean, uncovering many examples within the school context. Two examples are the direct marketing of unhealthy products to children within the school setting and instances where brands that sell primarily unhealthy products sponsor school events or donate unhealthy products to schools.

If children’s best interests are to be a priority especially in school settings, then other interests, including corporate profit-making interests, which directly or indirectly contradict with children’s rights, would be in conflict. While supplying schools and children with branded school supplies, sponsoring school sporting events and athletes (eg. images of the company logo or brightly colored products easily identified in and around school sporting event), sponsoring school scholarships (eg. student known as a ‘fast food’ scholarship recipient ), donating unhealthy products to school food programs and facilitating unhealthy product tastings in schools may appear harmless, they should raise conflict of interest alarm bells.

These corporate activities are marketing tactics. Companies hope to make their brands known to children, planting the seeds of brand loyalty, and securing lifelong consumers. Clear evidence, reiterated by global health giants such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF, highlights that children are easily influenced by the pervasive and powerful nature of unhealthy food marketing.  Marketing can greatly influence  children’s preferences, purchase requests and consumption of ultra-processed food products which can increase total energy intake and result in excess weight gain, increasing one’s risk of developing overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases. This persistent marketing normalizes the consumption of unhealthy products and ultimately displaces and undermines healthy diets. Such practices raise concerns as they infringe upon a child’s right to the highest attainable standard of health and contradict children’s right to be protected from health-harming information.

We should all be concerned when industry profits at the expense of children. As we imagine the world through the eyes of a school child, we must ask ourselves: Are we fostering an environment that prioritizes their wellbeing and fulfills their rights or are we allowing their health to be compromised for profit?

The way forward

Several schools across the Caribbean seem to be operating without guidance pertaining to conflicts of interest —- specifically, rules to control their engagement with industry actors. As a result, conflicts of interest occur all too frequently. This has to end.

Policies that regulate the sale and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages in schools are needed. For example, Barbados recently implemented a School Nutrition Policy which includes a regulation on the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages in schools. Other Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, have also made significant strides with regards to regulating unhealthy beverages.

Policy measures that support school nutrition policies are also needed, such as mandatory octagonal ‘front-of-package nutrition warning labels’ (FOPNWL) as well as fiscal policies, such as taxes on unhealthy foods and subsidies on healthy foods, to protect children. FOPNWL would empower school administrators, parents and children to easily and quickly identify foods and beverages that should not be allowed within and around schools. CARICOM countries are currently voting on whether to implement this policy regionally. Fiscal measures would help to ensure that healthy foods become more accessible to parents and children. Importantly, several of these policies have been successfully implemented in other countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.

However, it is expected that some actors will seek to delay, deny, and deflect implementing such necessary policies as they can impact profit margins. Policymakers must therefore stand firm and ensure that clear rules of engagement and other transparency and accountability mechanisms are in effect, including the implementation of robust conflict of interest policies to protect these policies from vested interests and access to information legislation to ensure that the public is sensitised to critical decisions that affect them.

Parents and children, recognising their rights to health and other rights, should feel empowered to actively call for healthier school environments. There should be open dialogue with school administrators and decision makers in the Ministries with responsibility for education, health, agriculture, among others, about ensuring that schools are protected as health-promoting environments.

With the regulation of unhealthy food and beverage industry actors in schools, health promoting bodies, such as insurance companies, could instead step in to become the model for sponsorship and donations in schools.

When the school bell rings, children should be guaranteed that their health and wellbeing among other rights, are taken care of, free from conflicts of interest.

Michele Baker, Kerrie Barker, Kimberley Benjamin, Vernon Davis, Christopher Laurie, Shay Stabler Morris and Danielle Walwyn are members of Healthy Caribbean Youth.

Healthy Caribbean Youth is the youth arm of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition. It is a regional group of young health advocates with various backgrounds who are passionate about promoting good health and supportive environments for children and youth.

The post When the School Bell Rings appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

The Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI)-funded Enhancing Community Wellness Project, which aims to reduce the prevalence of chronic health conditions in 150 participants was officially launched August 30 at 3t EnerMech, Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD). This project is being led by the Roraima Learning Trust (RLT) and aims to reduce the prevalence of chronic health ...