From July 6 to 8, 2025, CARICOM leaders will gather in Jamaica for the 49th CARICOM Heads of Government (HOG) Meeting, under the theme: People, Partnerships, Prosperity: Promoting a Secure and Sustainable Future.

As health-focused civil society organisations across the region, we are compelled to ask – What does a healthy Caribbean look like in CARICOM’s vision of a secure and sustainable future?

• Does it reflect the lived realities of our children, who are growing up in environments flooded with ultra-processed foods and limited access to safe spaces for physical activity?
• Does it account for the voices of our youth, many of whom are navigating mental health challenges with little support and even fewer services?
• Does it prioritise the needs of people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—those who require continuous care but face fragmented systems and financial hardship?
• Does it include persons living with disabilities and our indigenous and rural communities, which have long been underserved and which continue to experience some of the greatest health inequities?

As we prepare for another CARICOM HOG meeting—this time against the backdrop of the 4th UN High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on the Prevention and Control of NCDs and the Promotion of Mental Health to be held in September 2025—we are reminded of the CARICOM leaders’ vision of a healthy and secure future set almost 18 years ago.

During the 28th CARICOM HOG Meeting in July 2007, regional leaders committed to “full participation in the Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases, to be held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 14 September 2007.” That September 2007 meeting led to the landmark Declaration of Port of Spain —a turning point in the global NCD movement. It marked the first time a group of countries took collective action at the highest political level to address NCDs, placing the issue on the international agenda and laying the groundwork for the first UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2011.

Since then, the world has witnessed two more UNHLMs on NCDs, in 2014 and 2018 during which time civil society has advocated fervently to ensure NCDs remain prioritized. This pressure has been captured by key policy wins including the School Nutrition Policy implemented in Barbados and tabled in Jamaica.

Now, in 2025, we are preparing for the 4th UNHLM under the theme, “Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.”

This moment presents a critical opportunity for CARICOM to once again lead from the front, guided by previous commitments and aligned with the Caribbean Cooperation in Health IV and other key Caribbean SIDS-focused Declarations, including the 2023 Bridgetown Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health. Informed by consultations with Member States, the Bridgetown Declaration calls for “double- and triple-duty” actions to tackle NCDs. These include stronger linkages between climate and health agendas, building climate-resilient health systems, institutionalising public participation, protecting policy spaces from Industry interference, and implementing clear, effective policies such as front-of-package warning labelling. These key actions are aligned with the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s (HCC) Advocacy Priorities for the 4th UNHLM co-developed with HCC member organisations.

The under-addressed issues highlighted in the Declaration and the Advocacy Priorities resource are matters of survival and sustainable, equitable development for Caribbean nations.

Three out of every four Caribbean lives lost are due to preventable and manageable non-communicable diseases. CARICOM leaders must keep the prevention and control of these conditions central to their vision of a secure and sustainable future during discussions at their upcoming meeting.

In the lead up to the 4^th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health and in light of the growing burden of NCDs in the region; we ask CARICOM Heads of Government and State to urgently:

1. Commit to continued leadership on NCD prevention and control and commit to attendance at the 4^th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (HLM4) on September 25^th, 2025 in the official Communiqué emerging from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

2. Support the twelve Caribbean civil-society led advocacy priorities for inclusion in the official Communiqué from the Forty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community and in the HLM4 Political Declaration.

3. Support one or more CARICOM Heads of Government or State to have a lead role in at least one of the multi-stakeholder panels at the HLM4.

4. Support the hosting of a high-level side-event on the margins of the HLM4 led by CARICOM Heads of Government and State as was done in past UN HLMs on NCDs.

5. Endorse the inclusion of a representative from a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) representing people living with NCDs and a youth representative in country delegations to the HLM4 in recognition of the whole-of-society response to NCDs. 

History will remember whether CARICOM simply echoed past declarations, or delivered bold, lasting action. CARICOM leaders must ensure that the voices and unique needs of people with, and at risk of, NCDs in Caribbean Small Island Developing States are meaningfully represented and addressed at this High-level Meeting. 

CARICOM has been globally recognised for its leadership on NCDs. Now is the time to lead again.

Authors:

Dr. Kenneth Connell, President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

Ms. Danielle Walwyn, Advocacy Officer, Healthy Caribbean Coalition

Ms. Charity Dublin, President, Antigua and Barbuda Diabetes Association

Ms. Kim Simplis Barrow, President, Belize Cancer Society

Dr. Jane Noël, Chair, Grenada National Chronic non Communicable Disease Commission

Ms. Greta Yearwood, Chief Executive Officer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados

Mrs. Deborah Chen, Executive Director, Heart Foundation of Jamaica

Shannique Bownde, Executive Director, Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network

Ms. Abi Begho, Founder and Director of Program Management, Lake Health and Wellbeing (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Dr. Kedhma Dorh, President, St. Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association

Ms. Chelsea Antoine, Healthy Caribbean Youth (Trinidad and Tobago)