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The Ministry of Health, with assistance from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), on Monday began training dozens of environmental health officials from across Guyana on stepping up surveillance of food-borne illnesses that are caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and eventually contaminants. Addressing the opening of the seminar at the Marriott Hotel, Health Minister Dr ...

ographic. The Call to Action represents a culmination of months of collaborative effort among regional youth and youth organisations.

This effort aligns with this year’s call from the World Health Organization  to “make health and well-being for all a global priority”, by demanding urgent action from policymakers across the Caribbean to transform the region’s mental health systems and ultimately protect the mental health wellbeing of children and youth.

Read the Call to Action

You can take part too!

Join us in our commitment to prioritise, destigmatize and normalise mental health among our Caribbean children and young people.

By signing onto our Caribbean Youth Mental Health Pledge, you are vowing to work towards emphasising the Call to Action, advocating for the actions to be implemented by your policy makers and strive towards improving the mental health of our Caribbean Youth. In addition, by signing this pledge, you are affirming your personal vested interest in the Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action and you are declaring that the positions, views and agreements are your own volition.

Please read the Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action and Caribbean Youth Mental Health Pledge before signing the form below.

Sign the Call to Action

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Regional Partners’ Quotes for the Caribbean Youth MHCTA

The future of children and adolescents in Jamaica is at stake as the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the impact of multiple pre-existing stressors, such as violence and their mental health. Left unaddressed, this can have a lifelong and debilitating effect on each child and young person. The wider collective result will retard the development of the entire country. We must act now to ensure that a well-resourced, whole-of-government plan for improving the mental well-being of our young is implemented. Improving access to quality mental health services will not only improve the lives of children and adolescents, it will also yield a positive return on public investment and by extension grow our human capital and the economy.
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Jamaica

Quotes From Youth Organizations Consulted for the Caribbean Youth MHCTA

Mental health, just like physical health, is a fundamental right of every human being. We can ill afford to deny young people their right to a healthy life, and continue in our current vein, an attitude and approach to mental health rooted in silence, apathy, avoidance, complacency and stigma. Not when 1 in 7 young people in the 10-19 age group are experiencing a mental illness. Not when mental disorders remain a leading cause of illness and disability in young people. And, not when suicide is the 4th leading cause of death amongst young people aged 15-24. We have to do something! We have to intervene! We have to do right by our youth. And, that means calling for and taking decisive action to prevent, detect, manage and reduce the risk factors for the mental health challenges facing Caribbean youth! That, fundamentally, is what this Call to Action is about
Mr. David Johnson, President and Founder of Let’s Unpack It (Barbados)

I am delighted to support this call to action on mental health. As a psychotherapist, I am aware of the enormous stress being experienced by young people and the consequences on their mental health. Gender-based violence, bullying, substance abuse and undiagnosed serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia and depression are all causes for concern. I look forward to hearing the passionate voices of young people as they raise awareness of these issues across the region
Mrs. Tina Alexander, Executive Director of Lifeline Ministries (Dominica)

We have come to live in a world that is much different from what our parents and grandparents knew. With growing social and economic inequalities, violence, conflicts, pandemics and for youth,social and digital media have become an inescapable part of our lives; mental health is bound to be at risk. I urge you to digitally detox, take a break and recharge, reset! We all have minds that need to be cared for, some Tropical remedy is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed
Conversation
Ms. Ashma McDougall, President of the National Youth Council of Dominica

Supporting Activities

Working With the First Ladies

Her Excellency Mrs. Ann Marie Davis, the First Lady of The BahamasPhoto: The Tribune

We are pleased to share that Her Excellency Mrs. Ann Marie Davis, the First Lady of The Bahamas, has pledged her commitment to protecting the mental health of children and young people in the Caribbean. Thank you First Lady Davis!

Her Excellency Mrs. Rossana Briceño, the First Lady of BelizePhoto: BBN

On October 21st 2022, Sahar Vasquez, HCY Member in Belize and Co-founder of Mind Health Connect Belize, met with the First Lady of Belize, Her Excellence Rossana Briceno to discuss the Mental Health Call to Action. Thank you to the First Lady for showing her commitment to mental health!

HCY in Bahamas Meet With Policymakers To Discuss the Call to Action

Pictured left to right : Vernon Davis, Gabrielle Edwards, First Lady Davis, Dr. Forbes, Wellecia Munnings

On October 4th 2022, Gabrielle Edwards, 5th year Medical Student and Healthy Caribbean Youth member met with Mrs Ann Marie Davis, First Lady of The Bahamas to discuss the Mental Health Call to Action. She was joined by 4th year medical students,  Vernon Davis & Wellecia Munnings and senior psychiatric resident, Dr. Petra Forbes.

Social Media Graphics

Healthy Caribbean Youth Host a Series of Instagram Lives To Promote the Call to Action

As part of pre-launch activities, Healthy Caribbean Youth (HCY) hosted two Instagram Lives on the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s Instagram page, on the Saturday 1st and 8th October, 2022. During Day 1, youth mental health advocate, Trey Cumberbatch and Co-directors of Dance4Life Barbados, Shakira Emtage-Cave and Leila Raphael, gave their insight into the mental health of children and young people in the Caribbean and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of these groups. HCY member, Stephanie Whiteman (session moderator), provided an overview of the Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action (CYMHCTA) and set the scene leading into day 2’s session, where we dive into the significance and potential impact of the calls within the Caribbean context.

During Day 2, HCY member, Simone Bishop-Matthews (session moderator), provided a recap of the four overarching calls. Counselling Psychologist and HCY member, Alaina Gomes, President and Founder of Let’s Unpack It, David Johnson and Youth Technical Advisor at the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and HCY member, Pierre Cooke Jr., gave their take on the potential impact on communities and the Caribbean region if this CYMHCTA is implemented, from a mental health professional’s and a youth mental health organization’s perspective.

Re-watch Day 1 (click/tap to play)
Re-watch Day 2 (click/tap to play)

The post Caribbean Youth Mental Health Call to Action appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

Wednesday October 5th, 2022 the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and it’s partners hosted a webinar entitled  #ActOnFacts – The Food In Our Schools Matter.

In this webinar distinguished panellists and speakers discuss lessons learned around the implementation of healthy school policies across the Caribbean, and share a new resource to assist CARICOM countries in harmonising healthy school policy regulation.

#ActOnFacts – The Food In Our Schools Matter, is a regional campaign that aims to encourage public and policymaker support for policies that regulate the sale and marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks in and around schools, while increasing the availability of nutritious foods, healthier snacks and drinking water.

Panellists and Speakers

Sir Trevor Hassell
President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

Pieter Bult
UNICEF Representative for the Eastern Caribbean Area

Dean Chambliss
Subregional Programme Director, Caribbean, Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)

Dr Carlene Radix
Head of Human Health and Social Division, OECS Commission

Dr Tamu Davidson
Head of Chronic Disease and Injury Department Surveillance, Disease Prevention & Control Division, CARPHA

Fransen Jean
Food Security Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Sub-regional office for the Caribbean /em>

Barbara McGaw
Project Manager, Global Health Advocacy Project, Heart Foundation of Jamaica

Shannique Bowden
Executive Director, Jamaica Youth Action Network

Francine Charles
Programme Manager, Childhood Obesity Prevention Programme, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados

Deonne Caines
Technical Officer, National Food Industry Task Force, Ministry of Health and Wellness, Jamaica

Michelle Ash
Chief Nutritionist and Head of Department, Ministry of Health Special Services & Programmes Building, Trinidad and Tobago

Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw
Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Barbados

Tamie Marie
Communications Consultant, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

Nicole Foster
Law Lecturer & Head, Law and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Law, UWI Cave Hill Campus; HCC Policy Technical Advisor

Pierre Cooke Jnr
Youth Advocate, Campaign Champion, Youth Voices Technical Advisor, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

Maisha Hutton
Executive Director, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

The post #ActOnFacts – The Food In Our Schools Matters Webinar appeared first on Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

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Although some successes are obvious in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus seems to be always ahead of us. Mostly, we are reacting to the problem rather than having some proactive plans. The development of a method utilizing nanobeads to boost the amount of detectable viral RNA in a wastewater sample that successfully detected the Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants up to two weeks before the strains were detected in tests in clinics, could change the paradigm.

Although a huge possibility for early pandemic tracking using wastewater sequencing has long been discussed, two main factors - low-quality sequence data and the inability to estimate relative lineage abundance in mixed samples, were hindering the progress. In an eloquent study published in Nature a few weeks ago, scientists resolved these issues by using nanobeads to perform a high-resolution, 295-day wastewater and clinical sequencing effort, in the controlled environment of a large university campus. They successfully detected emerging variants of concern up to 14 days earlier in wastewater samples. They identified multiple instances of virus spread not captured by clinical genomic surveillance providing a scalable solution for wastewater genomic surveillance that allows early detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants and identification of cryptic transmission.

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