CARICOM heads of government have agreed to a 14-point declaration which sets out guidelines as to how the region will tackle non-communicable diseases.

The recommendations, titled “Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic NCDs”, were formulated during a special Regional Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on Saturday in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

“It was a good summit that gave ministers a good feel for the chronic diseases and the burden these diseases have on the population’s health service and economy as a whole,” Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester, chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health told the Observer.

Dr Campbell-Forrester accompanied Prime Minister Bruce Golding; his deputy, Dr Ken Baugh, who is also the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade; and health and environment minister, Rudyard Spencer, to the summit that was held under the theme “Stemming the Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Caribbean”.

“I think that there are some areas we may focus on that need to be enhanced, such as some policies and our interaction with the food industry, trans fats and proper labelling,” she said.

Among the recommendations coming out of the summit is the establishment of National Commissions on NCDs to plan and co-ordinate the comprehensive prevention and control of chronic NCDs.

Dr Campbell-Forrester said Jamaica could do well with a commission to work with agencies that already deal with NCDs.

“With all those agencies, you realise that a commission would be useful to coordinate and drive the process of intervention,” she explained.

The declaration, she said, also encouraged health ministries to collaborate with other sectors to create a comprehensive plan for screening and managing “chronic disease and risk factors so that by 2012, 80 per cent of the NCDs would receive quality care and have access to preventative education based on regional guidelines”.

Other declarations include:

. Full support for the initiatives and mechanisms aimed at strengthening regional health institutions, to provide critical leadership required for implementing agreed strategies for the reduction of the burden of chronic NCDs as a central priority of the Caribbean Health Cooperation in Health Initiative Phase II, being coordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and other partners; and

. A commitment to pursue immediately a legislative agenda for the passage of the legal provisions related to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, urge its immediate ratification in all states which have not already done so and support the immediate enactment of legislation to limit or eliminate smoking in public places, ban the sale of tobacco products to children, insist on effective warning labels and introduce such fiscal measures that will reduce accessibility to tobacco.

The declaration also recommended the re-introduction of physical education in schools where necessary, providing incentives and resources to effect the policies and ensuring that the education sector promotes programmes aimed at providing healthy school meals and promotes healthy eating.

“Jamaica has a policy and strategic plan which it has been implementing since 2004. However, we will look at any additional programmes that will help us to achieve this goal,” Dr Campbell-Forrester said.

It was also agreed that the second Saturday in September be declared as “Caribbean Wellness Day” to commemorate the summit.