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Jurist Weighs in on NCD Debate There has been a call for fresh legal thinking to tackle the
T he comments by the third most senior member of the Caribbean Court of Justice were made during a public lecture he delivered on the topic “Caribbean Public Health: The use of law to address NCDs in the Caribbean – A call to action”. The lecture was hosted by the Law and Health Research Unit of the Faculty of Law, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus on 15 September 2022 as part of the unit’s first anniversary celebrations. In prefacing his argument, the Cave Hill alumnus and former law lecturer cited a 2016 study by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) which found that NCDs accounted for 76 percent of deaths in non-Latin Caribbean countries, with the exclusion of Haiti. He said another study published in 2022 in Trinidad and Tobago found that the sugar, salt, and fats content in 90 percent of the food produced in the region does not meet the nutritional threshold set by PAHO. The jurist said while some existing legislation, such as the town and country planning acts, public health acts, noise abatement acts, and litter acts can help address aspects of the NCD problem, the region needed a broad suite of laws to bring the situation under control.
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis facing the region. It’s coming from Professor, the Honourable Justice Winston Anderson who said residents should consider legal options to hold the authorities to account if all else fails.
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