BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says Caribbean Community (Caricom) governments have vowed to step up action in addressing chronic diseases.

On Wednesday, representatives of Caricom governments ended a high-level meeting here by declaring that non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, are the greatest health and development threat facing the Caribbean.

They urged stepped-up efforts using all-of-government and all-of-society approaches to tackle NCDs, calling for greater investments in health systems to reverse what they termed a “tsunami” that threatens economic and social development throughout the region.

“The truth is that our people are dying, our people are being disabled by chronic diseases,” said Dr Carissa F Etienne, PAHO’s Dominican-born director.

“We are concerned that there is not enough being done to allow the Caribbean to reduce and prevent those deaths from chronic diseases,” she added. “If we continue as we are now, we will not meet the targets we have set for ourselves.”

PAHO said about three of every four deaths in the Caribbean are currently from NCDs.

It said more than 70 per cent of these deaths are premature, that is, among people under 70 years old, and that proportion is increasing.

PAHO said NCDs place a heavy burden on individuals, families and societies due to suffering and deaths, as well as high costs from treatment and care, lost productivity, and displaced resources from other sectors of the economy.

“We talk a lot about statistics, but there are faces behind them,” Etienne said. “We are talking about our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers; we are talking about ourselves.”

Delegates said that NCDs are overwhelming Caribbean countries’ health services and challenging their sustainability, and, at the same time, are impeding progress toward universal health coverage and universal access, according to PAHO.

Participants also discussed NCD “best buys,” that is, highly cost-effective measures that reduce people’s exposure to the top risk factors for NCDs.

These measures include laws, regulations and taxation aimed at reducing consumption of tobacco, alcohol, sugar and salt.

“We need to empower civil society to be advocates, to help us get the political commitment that is necessary,” Etienne said.

The meeting concluded with Caribbean leaders renewing their commitment to the principles set out in Caricom’s 2007 Port-of- Spain Declaration, as well as in the 2011 political declaration of the United Nations’ high-level meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs and the formal 2014 UN review of progress on NCDs.

Delegates called for particular focus on strengthening of health systems, prioritised investment in primary health care, and strengthening of surveillance and data collection systems, including through bilateral and regional cooperation.

They also urged support from and collaboration with international development partners and inter-governmental organisations, and ensuring that NCD prevention and control remain high on the Caribbean political agenda.