Back to School, Back to Health: Nothing at School Should Encourage Unhealthy Choices – Let’s Do Better for the Children!

On Thursday, September 11th, 2025, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition hosted a regional webinar entitled Back to School, Back to Health: Nothing at School Should Encourage Unhealthy Choices – Let’s Do Better for the Children!

The virtual event attracted over 200 registrants, including civil society leaders, government officials, youth advocates, and media representatives from across the region.

The webinar reintroduced the “Let’s Do Better for the Children” campaign, relaunched on August 18th with powerful back-to-school messaging. The campaign calls for stronger protections against the marketing of ultra-processed products (UPPs) – including sweetened beverages – to children, particularly in and around schools.

The webinar covered the following objectives:

• To reintroduce the ‘For the Children’ campaign, with a spotlight on updated and new materials.
• To expose and reframe industry-sponsored activities—such as school donations and
  sponsorships—as strategic marketing tools that grant the food and beverage industry undue influence and actively undermine school nutrition policies and children’s health.
• To explore rights-based, culturally relevant, and financially sustainable strategies to eliminate unhealthy food marketing in and around schools, while fostering strong alliances that protect school environments from corporate interference and promote the wellbeing of children.

HCC Press Release.

Press Coverage:

• Barbados Today – Businesses urged to promote healthy eating among youth (Published September 11, 2025)
• Barbados Today – Teens now suffering from ‘adult’ illnesses (Published September 11, 2025)
• Guyana Times – Caribbean teens facing alarming rise in adult-onset health conditions (Published September 14, 2025)

Panellists & Presenters

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The post Caribbean healthcare professionals to attend HIV training in Miami appeared first on Kaieteur News.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), in collaboration with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and with support from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Global Fund, will host a high-impact Strengthening HIV Prevention and Treatment Services Training Programme, from September 17–19, 2025, at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida.

Building on the groundbreaking PANCAP Learning Journey held earlier this year at Amsterdam’s renowned Public Health Service (GGD Amsterdam), this Miami training will further equip regional frontline healthcare providers with advanced skills in motivational interviewing (MI) and other cutting-edge clinical strategies. The Amsterdam session demonstrated remarkable success in enhancing providers’ ability to engage high-risk populations in PrEP programmes and re-engage people living with HIV who have fallen out of care.

The training will assemble clinical leaders from several Caribbean nations, including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, The British Virgin Islands, and the Dominican Republic. Participants will include physicians, nurses, and community health specialists representing both public health systems and civil society organisations, ensuring comprehensive knowledge transfer across all levels of care.

This intensive capacity-building initiative comes at a critical juncture as the region works assiduously to overcome persistent challenges in reaching UNAIDS’ ambitious 95-95-95 prevention targets by 2030.

“This isn’t just another training, it’s a strategic intervention to change the trajectory of HIV in our region,” emphasised Dr Wendy Telgt Emanuelson, Director of the PANCAP Coordination Unit. “By mastering motivational interviewing techniques and applying the latest evidence-based approaches, our regional clinicians will become powerful change agents in their communities, particularly in reaching marginalised populations most in need of these services.”

Dr Shanti Singh Anthony, Knowledge Management Coordinator at the PCU, underscored:

“The Amsterdam Learning Journey proved that when clinicians adopt patient-centred approaches, outcomes improve dramatically. This training on motivational interviewing will allow for a differentiated and client-centred approach to recruit, initiate and retain persons on HIV prevention and treatment services, helping us close gaps in the HIV care continuum and achieve the global targets.”

With Caribbean nations facing uneven progress toward HIV targets, this training addresses critical gaps in the regional HIV response.

The programme’s unique value lies in its “train-the-trainer” approach, ensuring participants can share their new skills with their colleagues back home. This creates sustainable capacity that will continue benefiting health systems throughout the region long after the Miami session concludes.

This training programme is a critical step toward revitalising HIV prevention and treatment efforts in the Caribbean. By empowering clinicians with evidence-based tools, PANCAP and its partners aim to reduce new infections, improve retention in care, and accelerate progress toward ending AIDS as a regional public health threat by 2030.

PANCAP graciously thanks The Global Fund, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and PAHO for making this pivotal training experience a reality.

The post Caribbean Healthcare leaders converge in Miami for Transformative HIV Training to Fast-Track 95-95-95 Targets appeared first on Caribbean News Global.

A Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) orthopaedic technician has been arrested in connection with a video recording traumatised Lolita “Lola” Callender while she was a patient at the Emergency Department, authorities said Thursday. Police said they have since seized the 2o-year-old man’s phone for an analysis to be conducted by the Cyber Crime Unit as ...

United States (US)-based activist Melissa “Melly Mel” Atwell has appealed a High Court decision that she must pay Balwant Singh Hospital and its Chief Executive Officer Dr Madhu Singh a total of GY$35 million for defamation, her lawyer Sanjeev Datadin said Wednesday. Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln states in her decision that having considered all the circumstances ...

• GSK supports seasonal flu immunization in Canada with domestic supply of Fluviral vaccine in advance of flu season

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – GSK Canada (GlaxoSmithKline Inc.) announced it has started shipping doses of its trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine, Fluviral, to Canadian provinces in preparation for the 2025-26 flu season.

Fluviral is a trivalent vaccine for use in adults and children greater than 6 months of age to protect against influenza virus types A and B contained in the vaccine.

Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is estimated to cause over 12,000 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths each year in Canada, ranking it among the 10 leading causes of death in the country.  According to Health Canada, annual vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the risk of flu and its potentially serious outcomes. The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends yearly vaccination for anyone aged six months or older who does not have contraindications, ideally before flu season starts.

Canada’s supply of Fluviral is being produced at our vaccines manufacturing facility in Ste-Foy, Quebec, which has been providing influenza vaccine for Canadians since 1997. The site currently produces the majority share of Canada’s seasonal influenza vaccine supply and, in the event of an influenza pandemic, is the primary supplier of the country’s pandemic flu vaccine.

Every year, different strains of flu circulate during the season. The World Health Organization (WHO) studies worldwide trends and recommends the strains to be included in the annual flu vaccine.

For egg-based influenza vaccines for the 2025-26 flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, the WHO has recommended including an A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1) pdm09-like virus, an A/Croatia/10136RV/2023 (H3N2)-like virus and a B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus. The supply of Fluviral for the 2025-26 season complies with these recommendations.

The post GSK begins shipping influenza vaccine doses for the 2025-26 flu season in Canada  appeared first on Caribbean News Global.

Well-known Guyanese artiste, model and businesswoman Lolita “Lola Doll” Callender was shot several times on Saturday night outside her residence in Texas Square, East Ruimveldt, police sources said. The 33-year-old woman was shot eight times to her right leg, hands, face, and neck while she was sitting in her motorcar. Ms Callender was rushed to ...

Countdown to the UNHLM

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Webinar: Caribbean Regional Stakeholder Meeting on the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health

On Wednesday 30 July 2025, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation, convened a virtual Caribbean Regional Stakeholder Meeting in support of the 4th UN High-Level Meeting (HLM4) on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) including Mental Health. This timely discussion also marked the 18th anniversary of the landmark 2007 Port of Spain Declaration on NCDs.

Panellist Quotes

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Open Letter to CARICOM Heads of Government

In Response to the Official Communique of the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government July 6–8, 2025, Montego Bay, Jamaica

July 22, 2025

Dear Honourable Heads of Government and State of CARICOM,

The President and the Board of Directors of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) note with disappointment the distinct absence of any mention of non-communicable disease (NCDs) and the upcoming  4th United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4)  in the Communique of the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).  The HLM4 will be held on September 25th, 2025 in New York during the 80th Meeting of the UN General Assembly under the theme “Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.”

In HCCs Open Letter, we recalled the historical legacy of CARICOM leadership, engagement and participation in previous UN HLMs on NCDs, and called on CARICOM Leaders to deliver on five (5) key civil society asks:

1. Commit to continued leadership on NCD prevention and control and commit to attendance at the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4) on September 25th, 2025 in the official Communiqué emerging from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
2. Support the twelve Caribbean civil-society led advocacy priorities for inclusion in the official Communiqué from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and in the HLM4 Political Declaration [1].
3. Support one or more CARICOM Heads of Government or State to have a lead role in at least one of the multi-stakeholder panels at the HLM4.
4. Support the hosting of a high-level side-event on the margins of the HLM4 led by CARICOM Heads of Government and State as was done in past UN HLMs on NCDs.
5. Endorse the inclusion of a representative from a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representing people living with NCDs and a youth representative in country delegations to the HLM4 in recognition of the whole-of-society response to NCDs.

Read the full letter

The 4th UN High Level Meeting on NCDs (HLM4) will take place 25 September 2025 in New York at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. Heads of States and Government will set a new vision to prevent and control NCDs towards 2030 and 2050 through a political declaration to be decided in the UN General Assembly. The Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (HLM4) provides a unique opportunity to adopt a new, ambitious and achievable political declaration on NCDs towards 2050.

Open Letter to CARICOM Heads of Government

Dear Honourable Heads of Government and State of CARICOM, On the occasion of this, the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) calls on you, Caribbean Heads of Government and State, to indicate your commitment to addressing one of our region’s most pressing development issues – noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – by attending the 4th United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4). The HLM4 will be held on September 25th, 2025 in New York during the 80th Meeting of the UN General Assembly under the theme “Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.”

The HLM4 comes at a critical time when globally and in the Caribbean, rising rates of NCDs – namely cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health conditions – are vastly outpacing prevention and control efforts. Eighteen years ago, CARICOM Member states played an important role in catapulting NCDs onto the global health agenda with the seminal Port of Spain Declaration. This was followed by the 1st UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011 which was attended by a significant number of CARICOM Heads who declared in a strong, unified voice that the prevention and control of NCDs was of the highest priority for the region. Almost 20 years after the 1st UN High-Level Meeting, progress in NCD prevention and control is uneven and the 2024 Port of Spain Grid and the 2025 WHO Progress Monitor both reflect a region grossly off track to meet critical regional and global NCD targets including the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4. NCDs are the leading cause of premature deaths in the Caribbean where 40% of NCD deaths occur prematurely before the age of 70 years. As unnecessary death and disability continue to rise, so do the associated costs of preventing and controlling these diseases which place a significant burden on the limited economic resources of CARICOM States – a crisis worsened by the impact of food and nutrition insecurity and climate-related disasters. Within the context of aging and contracting populations and increasing economic and climate vulnerabilities, bold action on NCDs focusing equally on prevention and treatment and care is critical to promoting a secure and sustainable future for the Caribbean.

Read the full letter
5 Key Asks of CARICOM Heads of Government and State

HCC-led Advocacy Priorities for HLM4

The HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities were developed with emphasis on the importance of identifying a set of regional priorities around which CARICOM missions and negotiators can promote at the HLM4; civil society and key advocacy partners can mobilise; and governments and key implementing partners can embrace – as all stakeholders work to accelerate progress to agreed priority NCD prevention and control objectives in CARICOM Member States. They take into consideration the WHO Best Buys and Other Recommended Interventions and CARICOM regional platforms and mandates, reflect and support the global NCDA advocacy priorities, and are further informed by key factors and realities within the Caribbean context.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition, in collaboration with the NCD Alliance (NCDA), key stakeholders, and partners, has led a process to develop advocacy priorities to inform Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States’ advocacy at, and contribution to, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Fourth High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (HLM4), scheduled for 25 September 2025 with the overall theme “Equity and Integration: Transforming lives and livelihoods through leadership and action on noncommunicable diseases and mental health”.

Read/download the full document

HCC-led Caribbean Advocacy Priorities summary View/download.

To see more detail on the Advocacy Priorities read/download the Priorities only document.

HLM4 Advocacy Priority Social Media Cards

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Preparing CARICOM Ministries of Foreign Affairs for HLM4
Preparing CARICOM Ministries of Foreign Affairs for the Fourth United Nations High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (HLM4) September 2025 and Beyond-  a Briefing Note From Civil Society.

The objective of the briefing note is to support the engagement of CARICOM Member States in the negotiations around the Political Declaration of HLM4. The briefing note presents the HCC-led Caribbean civil society advocacy priorities for HLM4; provides the rationale and evidence behind the advocacy priorities to support the negotiation process and contribute to effective Caribbean participation in the meeting; and sets the stage for continued advocacy for priority evidence-based NCD reduction strategies beyond HLM4.

Read/download the Briefing Note.

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Caribbean NCD Leaders Spotlight

HCC spotlight on Caribbean NCD leaders leading up to the 4th UN High Level Meeting on NCDs (HLM4) held during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025.

See our Caribbean NCD Leaders

HLM4 Key Milestones

Source: NCD Alliance with Caribbean-related insertions by HCC
UN Interactive Multistakeholder Hearing

Stephanie Whiteman

Maisha Hutton

Maria O’Brien

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) recently attended the UN Interactive Multistakeholder Hearing (MSH) as part of the preparatory process for the Fourth high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being (HLM4) to be held on 25 September 2025 at the 80th UNGA. The purpose of the MSH is to gather broad stakeholder feedback on NCD and mental health priorities to inform the development of the zero draft of the Political Declaration.

Find out more

Read the official UN summary of the hearing here, this reflects the perspectives from Member States, civil society, youth, people living with NCDs, and other stakeholders.

The post The 4th UN High-level Meeting on NCDs appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) has been welcomed into the family of the region’s media fraternity and got the esteemed opportunity to fulfil one of our commitments which we have strived to achieve over the last five (5) years; to host the media’s best for an in-person sensitization on the health landscape of the Caribbean, in partnership with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU). The HCC welcomed over 130 delegates of the CBUs 56th Annual General Assembly (AGA) and 36th Caribbean Media Awards (CMA) to its home-country Barbados, along with one of its civil society organization members, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados at the Hilton Resort, Barbados. The delegates included Media Managers, Executive Directors, News Editors, Multi-Media Journalists, Media Moguls, Media stalwarts, Anchors and Communication Specialists.

Mrs. Sheena Warner-Edwards

The HCCs Communication Officer Mrs. Sheena Warner-Edwards delivered Remarks from the HCC, followed by the Welcoming Remarks from the CBUs President Mr. Anthony Greene.

The floor opened to a showcase from the youth advocates of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados and the Healthy Caribbean Youth (HCY) marrying public health, health policy and the orange economy. Through the arts, the youth delivered the message – Why Healthy Nutrition Food Policies Mattered! Following, HCCs Policy Advisor and Head of the Law and Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Mrs. Nicole Foster, delivered a riveting presentation which explained the role of Commercial Determinants of Health on policy erosion, implementation and progress in the Caribbean region. A poetic experience unfolded thereafter with the experiences of our 2023 Caribbean Media Awards (2024 Awards Showing) Healthy Nutrition Food Policy Award – Print and Television winners, taking us through the curation of their work and publishing and broadcasting of the final product.

Another highlight of the evening was the video presentation of our industry interference and Conflicts of Interest (COI) communication campaign materials which was introduced by HCCs Communication Consultant Ms. Tamie Marie.

Team HCC showcased and showed-out. A clearer understanding of the work HCC and its partners and member organisations have been doing across the Caribbean, to reduce childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was buttressed. The evening culminated with visits to the booths of media partners and sponsors of the CBU. The HSFB/HCC booth also commanded attention.

Several opportunities arose out of discussions with journalists present and further interviews were scheduled for print, digital, radio and television. The attendees were treated to healthy hors d’ oeuvres and fruit-infused water, at the end of Day 1 of the CBU AGA.

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Sheena Warner-Edwards opening remarks.

Creativity Meets Opportunity

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) is pleased to once again support the creativity of the media, through the sponsorship of the themed categories in Print and Television through our Healthy Nutrition Food Policy Awards, and to support the travel and accommodation of one of the delegates, an avid journalist; a creator, Ms. Sashana Small, of the RJR Gleaner Communications, to attend this year’s CBU Annual General Assembly and Caribbean Media Awards.

Joining with the CBU on this Partner’s Showcase, strengthens our ability to demonstrate the importance of the whole-of-society approach to tackling NCDs, which is also reflective in this year’s theme Caribbean Media and the Orange Economy.

Our communication and advocacy are strengthened through working with the media as you are able to take what would be considered heavy content and break it up into more digestible, culturally sensitive material for various target audiences.

Whether it is sounding calls for prostate cancer screening, as we try tirelessly to reach our men in society, to bringing the issues to the attention of the population through Editorials, Advertorials, Op-Eds, and Press Releases, you have worked with the HCC and our partners over the years and we thank you.
Every year the number of entries for the Caribbean Media Awards continues to grow; noting the 551 submissions, across 61 categories from 30 media organisations representing 11 countries and territories; a

13% increase from last year’s record-breaking year, which is testament to the worth of the CBU as a leader in our region. We at the HCC are pleased to be a part of the record-breaking years, and to bring a stronger health-focus to the agenda as NCDs remain a major priority on our agenda and has been touted at the highest level and by our Patron Sir George Alleyne, to “represent an existential threat to the economic survival and human capital of the Caribbean countries”.
This year is yet another significant year as on the 25th September 2025, Heads of Government will meet at the UN General Assembly to set a new vision for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing towards 2030 and beyond.

As I speak, the HCC is promoting our UNHLM campaign and has launched the second phase of our For The Children campaign, the latter of which you will hear more about and see shortly. Our civil society member organisations in Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas and Jamaica rely heavily on the media to get the messages, press releases, activities and campaigns out to the public, as they support governments in providing care and treatment, while raising health literacy, for and about NCDs. Through media advocacy, we in the Caribbean can secure financing through political commitment for national NCD programmes to ensure that NCD prevention policies are in place, NCD services in primary care are

established at high standards and NCD surveillance mechanisms are put in place and are ongoing.

After the commitments are made, we need to drive action. That’s where you the media again come in; to draw attention to the inadequacies of declarations, outcome documents, policy and programme recommendations and what’s interfering with the implementation of evidence-based policies and programmes. Caribbean countries have been accused of implementation inertia.
The Caribbean has had a chance to be again, a leader in the NCD space. Civil society organisations echoed their voices for the implementation of the octagonal warning label as the front of package warning label which best suited the people in our region, based on scientific evidence in 2021 and again in 2023; this was played down

and thrown out. Now in 2025 we are seeing many changes in the US market with respect to the food which is produced there and shipped here. The media has captured this and amplified it.
The media is therefore powerful in its ability to empower people so they become stewards of the environment. The HCC values this partnership with the CBU and its stakeholders, and look forward to ongoing work and engagement. You can guarantee that once the media covers any area of health, the HCC will capture, share and repost it.

The post HCC and CBU Partners Showcase – Healthy Nutrition Food Policies appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

This impactful initiative brought together local medical professionals and a 25-member international ...