This State of Public Health Report – “Healthy Ageing in the Caribbean” is a welcome publication for the people of the region. Healthy ageing was identified through a survey, as one of the areas requiring further research and policy recommendations by our Member States. This publication contributes to fulfilling the priorities outlined in the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH IV); Health and well-being of Caribbean people throughout the life course. As a consequence, healthy living throughout the life course is also a strategic priority in CARPHA’s strategic plan 2018-2020.

The report outlines the strategic framework of the CCH-IV; the alignment of the CCH-IV to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the RPGs progress dashboard; a progress summary on the RPGs as reported by the lead agencies; the challenges, and recommendations to advance implementation of the Caribbean Cooperation in Health-IV.

Module 1: Evidence-Based Treatment Protocols target primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and any other health care provider who is directly involved in the medical management of diabetes. This module aims to give updated algorithms on care, incorporating the most recent recommendations in the care of diabetes.

Information regarding the quality of medicines in the Caribbean region is deficient. Therefore, in recognizing this need, the CARPHA Medicines Quality Control and Surveillance Department (MQCSD) MQCSD has implementing a post market surveillance (PMS) programme for medicines. The meeting gave MQCSD stakeholders input into the process.

This guide provides information to CARPHA Member States on the conduct of post-market surveillance and the procedures for medicines quality testing at the CARPHA Medicines Quality Control and Surveillance Department (MQCSD).

Public health organisations use social media tools to expand their reach, foster user engagement, and increase access to credible public health messages. According to Brandwatch, a social media monitoring company headquartered in Brighton, England, between September 2017 and October 2018, social media users grew by 320 million, making it a viable platform for the dissemination of information. Many public health campaigns are created for social media, however, to determine the impact of these campaigns, they must be monitored and evaluated. This guidebook is developed by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) with funding from the U.S. Embassy for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. The goal is to help social media managers monitor and evaluate their campaigns. Although many examples within the guidebook refer to the Aedes aegypti mosquito, an important vector for the Region, the principles can be applied to other public health situations.

The publication has been created to help governments develop community-based policies, strategies and programmes designed specifically to meet the unique vector-related and disease-prevention challenges in the Caribbean region. It should be viewed as a set of modular and flexible blueprints for the implementation of new Caribbean based initiatives to develop the capabilities for activating communities in the fight against vector-borne diseases. Using a scalable, low-cost, and sustainable strategies and methods, CARPHA member countries and territories can deploy stronger community activation programmes that will ideally result in lower levels of vector-borne disease transmissions.

Cette publication a été créée pour aider les gouvernements à élaborer des politiques, des stratégies et des programmes communautaires conçus spécifiquement pour relever les défis uniques liés au vecteur et à la prévention des maladies dans la région des Caraïbes. Il inclut le dessin des meilleures pratiques mises en oeuvre par les programmes de contrôle et de prévention réussis dans le monde entier, y compris des suggestions anecdotiques et individuelles pour améliorer les systèmes et les programmes existants. De cette manière, l'auteur espère que tout lecteur pourra à la fois lancer des programmes d'engagement communautaire à partir de zéro et / ou être capable d'augmenter les programmes existants pour augmenter l'efficacité et la durabilité. Ce manuel n'est pas un ensemble d'instructions de A à Z. Au lieu de cela, il devrait être considéré comme un ensemble de plans modulaires et flexibles pour la mise en oeuvre de nouvelles initiatives fondées dans les Caraïbes pour développer les capacités d'activation des communautés dans la lutte contre les maladies à transmission vectorielle. En utilisant des stratégies et des méthodes évolutives, peu coûteuses et durables, les pays et territoires membres de la CARPHA peuvent déployer des programmes d'activation communautaires plus forts qui aboutiront idéalement à des niveaux plus faibles de transmission des maladies à transmission vectorielle.

Deze publicatie is opgesteld om overheden te helpen om gemeenschapsgericht beleid, strategieën en programma's te ontwikkelen die specifiek zijn ontworpen om te voldoen aan de unieke vectorgerelateerde en ziektepreventie-uitdagingen in het Caribisch gebied. Het omvat het putten uit best practices die geïmplementeerd zijn door succesvolle bestrijdings- en preventieprogramma's over de hele wereld, inclusief anekdotische en individuele suggesties voor het verbeteren van bestaande systemen en programma's. Op deze manier is het de hoop van de auteur dat elke lezer in staat zal zijn om community-engagement-programma's [ofwel programma’s voor het betrekken van de gemeenschap] helemaal opnieuw te starten en / of bestaande programma's te vermeerderen om de effectiviteit en duurzaamheid te vergroten. Deze handleiding is geen reeks instructies van A tot Z. In plaats daarvan moet het worden gezien als een reeks modulaire en flexibele blauwdrukken voor de implementatie van nieuwe Caribische initiatieven om mogelijkheden te ontwikkelen om gemeenschappen te activeren in de strijd tegen door vectoren overgedragen ziekten. Met behulp van schaalbare, goedkope en duurzame strategieën en methoden kunnen CARPHA-lidstaten en -gebieden sterkere programma's voor gemeenschapsactivering implementeren die idealiter zullen resulteren in een vermindering van door vectoren overgedragen ziekten.

This report examines the State of Public Health across a small and very diverse region of the world. The countries of the Caribbean are small in population and geographical size, and highly vulnerable to external man-made and environmental shocks. The report examines major threats to the health of Caribbean people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play. The focus is on the situation in the three years 2014 to 2016. This involves examining some long-standing issues as well as things that happened in that period. Actions that have been taken to address threats are presented, along with examples of good practice and suggestions for the future.