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The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has partnered with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to implement a regional project to develop a framework for Caribbean movements: an initiative to reduce the high incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) ).
The project will build on the momentum of ongoing national programs aimed at increasing physical activity and healthy eating and curbing high rates of non-communicable diseases in the region.
Caribbean Moves was launched in Kingston, Jamaica (September 14) and will support health promotion activities in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos Islands building on the successes of similar initiatives in Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.
The bank has committed over USD 175,000 in financial and technical resources to develop Caribbean Movementsand support successful implementation.
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“The economic costs of infectious diseases will not only further burden our countries, but also reduce productivity and human capital investment in education and health.” say Mr. Isaac Solomon, Vice President, Operations IN Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) who spoke at the launch event held on September 14, adding that “Non-chronic diseases also result in loss of income; increased economic dependency and caregiving burdens within families – the latter usually borne by women – and concurrent life-long poverty traps. Failure to address NCDs undermines sustainable development and will also result in vulnerable and disadvantaged social groups being left behind..
The Bank’s support for the initiative is a response to these implications and the burden that NCDs carry for CDB Borrowing member countries. Poor health is an antecedent and consequence of poverty and has a high cost of diseases such as diabetes and hypertension in the region.
The Caribbean is on record as having the highest mortality and obesity rates in the Americas, with NCDs accounting for approximately three out of four deaths.
These deaths are linked to common modifiable risk factors, including physical inactivity which the Caribbean Moves project will address.
NCDs have also amplified the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and, in turn, the pandemic has worsened the NCD burden in the region.
This is affecting the ability of governments and the region to achieve set development goals and widening the gap to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It is envisioned that Caribbean Moves will enable a Caribbean culture that reflects a more active and healthy society by empowering all people in the Caribbean to be more physically active in their daily lives and make healthier food choices.
SOURCE: Caribbean Development Bank
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