Dr Ernest Madu, chief executive officer at the Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC), speaking at the Observer Monday Exchange meeting of reporters and editors this week. Beside him is Dr Dainia Baugh, president HIC and chair of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean Foundation. (Photo: Naphtali Junior) CARDIOLOGIST Dr Ernest Madu believes a number of Jamaica’s health and economic problems could... 

ATLANTA, CMC – The United States government has reversed its decision to deny a Barbadian woman more time with her cancer-stricken daughter. Petra Gooding, 30, said she was given a September 2 deadline to leave the United States after her visitor’s visa expired. She has spent 10 months here as her 7-year-old-daughter, Niamh Stoute, undergoes intense chemotherapy for stage four cancer at the Aflac... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Ministry of Health said that an adult male has been confirmed as the first recorded death as a result of Dengue Fever in Barbados. Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joy St. John expressed sympathy to the family of the deceased and urged Barbadians who are experiencing symptoms of Dengue Fever, including sudden high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, muscle and... 

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – A senior Dominican health official died Thursday due to an illness suspected to be associated with dengue, according to local media reports. Director of Primary Health Care, Dr Francesca Jacobs had been admitted to hospital last week and was not on active duty at the time of her death. The exact cause of her death has not been confirmed by medical doctors. Dr Jacobs was... 

Inniss BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Health Minister Donville Inniss on Wednesday urged the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) to return to the negotiating table. Inniss issued his plea during an hour-long meeting at the Ministry of Health with a BAMP delegation. Talks between the two sides broke down a day earlier after two... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A dispute between the board of the island’s main healthcare facility, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), and the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) continues to drag on after talks broke down Tuesday. BAMP, whose members have only been attending to “emergency” cases since late last week, had called off its industrial action at the QEH and other... 

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Health officials here are reporting a significant increase in the number of confirmed cases of dengue, with a spike during the months of July and August. Head of the Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Unit, Dr Alister Antoine, said the situation was widespread across the tri-nation state. “Every parish, including the Carriacou, has being affected with the youngest... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The industrial action by doctors employed by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) continued on Tuesday even as Health Minister Donville Inniss said he was prepared to give the parties enough time to reach a settlement. The doctors, whose protest action has now spread to include polyclinics, district, geriatric and psychiatric hospitals, have said they would continue dealing... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Opposition Leader Mia Motley has called on Acting Prime Minister Frundel Stuart to have Health Minister Donville Inniss cancel his vacation and return home in light of what she calls a “medical crisis” in the country. “I am appalled that in the middle of a medical crisis that the Minister of Health left Barbados yesterday for a vacation – a Mediterranean cruise,”... 

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique, CMC – Health officials Friday confirmed that this French Island is experiencing a dengue fever epidemic, the latest Caribbean nation to announce an outbreak of the mosquito borne illness. The Regional Health Agency has been advising all departing airline passengers of the presence of the disease. “You are coming from a territory where an epidemic of dengue fever has... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados  on Wednesday launched a study to identify the main factors that cause food-borne disease and to find ways of reducing its occurrence in the country. The initiative, entitled “Barbados Burden of Illness Study”, is being undertaken jointly with the Trinidad-based Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). Health... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Health officials in Barbados say they are worried about a spike in the number of dengue fever cases on the island. Chief Medical Officer, Dr Joy St John has confirmed that there have been 43 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne virus this year. Over the past three weeks, five persons suspected of having dengue fever have been admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,... 

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday declared an end to the H1N1 pandemic that briefly created a global scare but urged continued vigilance, cautioning that pandemics, like the viruses that cause them, are unpredictable. “We are now moving into the post-pandemic period. The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Health Minister Donville Inniss has announced a ban on smoking in public places from October 1. Inniss said the Cabinet had recently approved anti-smoking legislation and the draft laws “will shortly be laid in parliament. “This legislation seeks to protect vulnerable individuals and groups from the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke,” he told the gathering.... 

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Mexico and Belize officials have held talks on ways of combating a possible outbreak of dengue fever in both countries. “The government officials of the Federal Ministry of Health from Mexico met with representatives of the Ministry of Health of Belize. Among other things, they exchanged information on the current state of dengue in both countries and at the same time,... 

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government is proposing a TT$5,000 (US$833) or a two year jail term for motorists caught using mobile phones while driving. Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner said that the amendment to the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill, 2010 will be taken to Parliament within a month. “This bill will make it a statutory offence for the use of mobile... 

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Health Minister Therese Baptiste-Cornelis has confirmed that a Cuban doctor working under an agreement with the Trinidad and Tobago government had defected to the United States “a few weeks ago”. Speaking with reporters after a ceremony for Local Government councilors in San Fernando, south of here on Tuesday, the minister said that the authorities are now reviewing... 

GENEVA,  CMC – The United Nations says it wants to reach an additional 500,000 children during a second round of emergency immunisations in Haiti more than six months after the country was devastated by a powerful earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people. The second round of immunisations will consist of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, rubella and polio, Marco... 

Ann Peters By Leroy Aldophus VIENNA, Austria, CMC -Chairman of the Pan Caribbean Agreement Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), Ann Peters, said she is confident that despite cuts in global funding, the Caribbean will continue providing adequate care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. “What may be happening around the region is based on some of the funding we have been having from the... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica says it has put medical officials on a high state of preparedness to detect and treat dengue fever after a number of Caribbean countries reported an increase in the virus in recent months. On Friday, Trinidad and Tobago confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever after health officials there said that more than 600 cases had been reported to medical institutions across... 

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Health officials Friday confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever and urged citizens to do more to eradicate the aedes aegypti mosquito responsible for spreading the virus. Chief Medical officer Dr. Anton Cumberbatch told a news conference that while five persons had died from suspected dengue fever, only three of the cases had been confirmed so far. He said more than 600... 

VIENNA, Austria, CMC- A University professor is urging Jamaica and other Caribbean countries to deal with the factors responsible for the violence against homosexuals as a first step towards recognising the rights of minority groups in the region. “Jamaica is well known for its violence and I think …violent acts against gay people is one of the ways that Jamaica deals with conflict,” Professor... 

By Leroy Adolphus VIENNA, Austria, CMC- The Executive Director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership (CBMP), Dr. Allyson Leacock, is cautioning against celebrating the “major breakthrough” announced by researchers of a vaginal gel that could reduce HIV infections by nearly 50 per cent in women. “Anything that allowed our women to feel empowered to make independent decisions... 

The Caribbean Food Groups (www.paho.org image) By: News Montserrat On Tuesday June 1, Montserrat joins the rest of the region in the observance of Caribbean Nutrition Day. Local Health Officials will mark the day by organizing an exercise activity in the new town centre in Little Bay. Health Promotion Officer Sharon Greenaway says the Walk around the town will begin at 5:30 pm at the Public Market. The... 

(DNO) A 2009 United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) report has indicated that in Dominica, 77 persons died from HIV/AIDS from1997‐2009, which the report indicates a decrease in the HIV‐related mortality rate since 2005 as compared to previous years. “This decline is almost certainly attributable to the scale up of HIV treatment and care in Dominica including the availability... 

The Environmental Health Division hosted a one (1) day workshop on the International Health Regulation (IHR) for stakeholders and health officials in the Ministry of Health and the Environment. The IHR seeks to implement border controls to containment and identifying the source (s) of threats to public health; form a diseases list of all public health threats; and to look at present measures to... 

*Photo credit: www.stanford.edu HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Cuba on Monday began the second stage of vaccination against the A(H1N1) flu during which about 150,000 children will be immunized. Local health officials said that the second phase of the viral vaccination campaign will last until next May 22. Children from six months old to nine years of age who were immunized in the first phase and that... 

Photo credit: static.guim.co.uk LUGO, Spain, CMC – Caribbean mayors, who joined their counterparts from Europe and Latin America for a meeting here, have agreed to a new initiative aimed at finding solutions to social problems caused by drug abuse. A statement issued at the end of the three-day “Drugs Summit of European, Latin American and Caribbean Mayors and Cities” said a commitment... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government says it will be making more pharmaceutical items available to the public health system later this month after Prime Minister Bruce Golding signs more than 40 new contracts on Wednesday. A government statement said that the 44 new contracts will allow for smooth purchasing arrangements of hundreds of pharmaceutical items that are on the Ministry of... 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The United States is providing nearly US$100 million over a five year period to help Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean to combat the spread of the deadly HIV/AIDS virus. Health ministers from Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will on Tuesday sign a partnership framework agreement with Washington to chart a path for sustained support... 

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Health authorities are blaming meningitis for the recent deaths of two boys, but have urged residents to remain calm as there was no evidence of an epidemic on the island. Meningitis is the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other micro-organisms and less commonly, by... 

Labour Minister Pearnel Charles. *Photo credit: www.caribbean360.com KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government is looking at the possibility of obtaining a court injunction that would force hundreds of striking nurses to return to their jobs. Labour Minister Pearnel Charles said the high rate of absenteeism by nurses that started Tuesday was affecting operations at state-run facilities. “The... 

ATLANTA, Georgia, CMC – United States health officials have warned that as many as half a million people made homeless by the January 12 earthquake in Haiti now face the risk of malaria infection. Officials said that relief workers who may not have built up immunity to the sometimes-deadly strain found in Haiti are also at risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) here said... 

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - The Health Ministry has launched an investigation into what triggered an outbreak of gastroenteritis at a rural primary school. Officials want to determine if the outbreak that has affected dozens of students and at least one member of the teaching staff was caused by water that was trucked to the school. A total of 24 children in the five-to-12 age group have been suffering... 

On March 09, 2010, U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued Import Alert #99-20, “Detention Without Physical Examination of Imported Food Products Due to Nutritional Labeling Education Act (NLEA) Violations”. (IA 99-20).  FDA enforces all laws and regulations related to “Front of Package” labeling and Nutritional Facts Panels.  This applies to both imported and domestic products. ...