NEW YORK –- The heavy economic burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was described on Sept. 27 by St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Mark Brantley to US Deputy Secretary of State, John Sullivan.
The exchange took place during the 2018 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Foreign Minster’s meetings. Other topics discussed were climate change, disaster risk reduction, financial and banking services, security, migration and education.
Brantley intervened on behalf of CARICOM to discuss health matters in the region. In brief remarks, he noted alarming statistics on the high mortality rates attributed to NCDs.
Minister Brantley called for a new paradigm of the criteria with which small, economic and environmentally vulnerable states, which have graduated to middle and high income status, should be eligible for development assistance.
The meeting ended with a dialogue on the avenues of how CARICOM and the US government can advance their technical cooperation frameworks.
