Chronic disease in the Caribbean: strategies to respond to the public health challenge in the region. What can we learn from Jamaica's experience?

With the advent of the epidemiological transition, chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) have emerged as the leading cause of death globally. In this paper we present an overview of the burden of CNCDs in the Caribbean region and use Jamaica as a case-study to review the impact of policy initiat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWest Indian medical journal Vol. 60; no. 4; p. 397
Main Authors Ferguson, T S, Tulloch-Reid, M K, Cunningham-Myrie, C A, Davidson-Sadler, T, Copeland, S, Lewis-Fuller, E, Wilks, R J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Jamaica 01.07.2011
Subjects
Chronic Disease - economics
Chronic Disease - epidemiology
Chronic Disease - prevention & control
Cost of Illness
Federal Government
Health Policy
Health Priorities
Health Promotion
Humans
Hypertension - epidemiology
Jamaica - epidemiology
Obesity - epidemiology
Private Sector
Public Health
Risk Factors
West Indies
Jamaica
West Indies
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Summary:With the advent of the epidemiological transition, chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) have emerged as the leading cause of death globally. In this paper we present an overview of the burden of CNCDs in the Caribbean region and use Jamaica as a case-study to review the impact of policy initiatives and interventions implemented in response to the CNCD epidemic. The findings show that while Jamaica has implemented several policy initiatives aimed at stemming the tide of the CNCD epidemic, a comparison of data from two national health and lifestyle surveys conducted in Jamaica in 2000/01 and 2007/08 revealed that there was an increase in the prevalence of intermediate CNCD risk factors such as hypertension and obesity. We therefore present recommended strategies which we believe will enhance the current CNCD response and thus reduce, or at least stem, the current epidemic of CNCDs.
ISSN:0043-3144