News :
Bahamas Information Services Updates
PAHO Gives Input to Over-the-Hill Partnership Initiative -
Oct 22, 2018 - 6:32:11 PM
Components of the Over-the-Hill-Community Development Partnership
Initiative are coming together as envisioned by Prime Minister, Dr. the
Most Hon. Hubert Minnis to rejuvenate and restore pride in the
disadvantaged communities.
Recently, the Over-the-Hill Unit in
Office of the Prime Minister and the Pan American Health Organization
teamed up in a workshop to focus on health, water and sanitation
components of the Initiative...
Health
Caribbean countries and territories are better prepared to keep imported measles from sparking outbreaks -
Oct 19, 2018 - 12:45:34 PM
A recent PAHO-organized workshop trained 35 Caribbean health officers on
how to respond rapidly and effectively to any imported cases of measles
or rubella
Washington, DC, October 19 2018 (PAHO/WHO) — It’s
been more than 25 years since the Caribbean reported its last case of
indigenous measles. But the risk of imported cases has persisted because
measles continues to circulate in countries around the world...
Health
Caribbean Ministers approve plan to prepare for the health impact of climate change -
Oct 18, 2018 - 3:04:48 PM
Ministers from across the Region of the Caribbean have agreed on an
Action Plan to ensure that the health of those living in Small Island
Developing States (SIDS) is protected and prioritized within the global
climate change agenda.
The III Global Conference on Health and
Climate: Special Focus on Small Island Developing States, convened
jointly by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)...
Health
PAHO Director participates in inauguration ceremony of Princess Alice Smart Hospital, Grenada -
Oct 16, 2018 - 7:42:41 PM
The Princess Alice hospital is the first hospital in the Eastern
Caribbean Region to have been fully refitted to smart standards to
protect the health of the population against climate change-related
events.
St George’s, Grenada, October 16 2018 (PAHO / WHO) – The
Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa F.
Etienne, yesterday participated in the inauguration of the latest smart
health care facility to open in the Region of the Caribbean.
Health
Progress must be accelerated to end tuberculosis in the Americas, says new PAHO report -
Sep 25, 2018 - 11:15:22 AM
Over a quarter of a million people live with TB in the Region of the
Americas and 24,000 died from the disease in 2017. But the downward
trend in new cases and deaths must proceed more swiftly to meet
elimination targets.
Washington, D.C., 25 September 2018
(PAHO/WHO). Between 2000 and 2015, deaths from tuberculosis (TB) fell by
37.5% in the Americas and new cases dropped by 24%. However, the rate
of decline must be accelerated for the Region to be able to end the
disease, according to a new report by the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO)...
News :
Bahamas Information Services Updates
Bahamian Minister of Health elected President of the PAHO's 56th Directing Council -
Sep 24, 2018 - 12:23:12 PM
The Bahamian Ministry of Health, Duane Ernest Lascelles Sands, has been
elected President of the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) 56th
Directing Council, which convenes the Region’s health authorities to
discuss and analyze regional health policies and set priorities for
technical cooperation and collaboration among countries.
Sands
will preside over the Directing Council, which begins today until 27
September, where ministries of health, from throughout the Region of the
Americas will discuss a series of plans to reduce the shortage in
health personnel...
Health
Bahamas to host HEALinc Future Health Innovation Summit -
Jul 25, 2018 - 2:29:04 PM
Putting The Bahamas on the cutting edge of a the future of health and
ushering in a paradigm-shift in health and technology in the region and
globally is the focus of The 2018 Inaugural HEALinc Future Health
Innovation Summit, taking place at the Melia Hotel, Nassau in October
7th-9th. This unique Summit is the brainchild of Dr. Desiree Cox, MD,
PhD and is the first of its kind in The Bahamas and possibly the
Caribbean region. Where regenerative medicine meets technology and
social enterprise is the title of the Summit. As the title implies the
Summit brings top minds together to take a comprehensive, multi-faceted...
Health
National HIV Testing Day, 29th June 2018 -
Jun 21, 2018 - 2:57:11 PM
With an estimated 2% HIV prevalence, HIV and AIDS remain significant
problems in The Bahamas. As with many other sexually transmitted
infections, there may be no obvious signs or symptoms of early HIV
infection, and the only way to confirm the presence of HIV is through a
medical test.
The Ministry of Health is committed to early HIV
diagnosis as a safeguard to the health and well-being of all Bahamians,
and has “scaled up” HIV testing during the month of June, including
National HIV Testing Day...
Health
Get vaccinated against measles and rubella before travelling to the World Cup -
May 30, 2018 - 9:59:16 AM
The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization
(PAHO/WHO) has recommended that all those travelling to the 2018 FIFA
World Cup ensure that they´re up-to-date with all their vaccinations,
including the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (also known as MMR).
The 2018 World Cup will be hosted this year by Russia between June 14
and July 15.
The increase in international travel and the mass
movement of people during events such as the World Cup increases the
risk of transmission of diseases...
Health
Mosquito Awareness Week: Calling all citizens to the frontlines of mosquito control -
May 10, 2018 - 5:15:59 PM
Health authorities in the Caribbean are calling on individuals, families
and communities to join the battle to reduce mosquito breeding sites in
and around homes, as part of the Pan American Health Organization’s
(PAHO) campaign for Mosquito Awareness Week 2018.
This year’s
campaign focuses on increasing community participation in the
elimination of breeding sites for Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that
transmits dengue, chikungunya, Zika and urban yellow fever...
Health
LEAP program to be introduced to Bahamas -
Apr 13, 2018 - 4:11:24 PM
Foot and Ankle International, led by Dr. Daniel Johnson will be hosting a
team of international expert podiatrists over the next few weeks for
the implementation of the LEAP program designed specifically to help
diabetics.
LEAP (Lower Extremity Amputation Prevention) seeks to
address the prevalence of amputations in diabetics. Surgeons would
remove an apparently rotting toe, foot or portion of a leg to save the
rest of the body. For Dr. Johnson...
Health
The eyes have it – New diagnostic technology eliminates need for drops -
Apr 9, 2018 - 1:16:54 PM
Remember when going to the eye doctor meant suffering for hours
afterwards while the effect of those drops you dreaded wore off and you
were able to see clearly again?
Those days may be history,
according to a respected local optometrist who employs new technology
called Optomap to look inside the retina, detecting any abnormality that
would be a warning sign of a separated retina or other disorder,
including common physical conditions not readily associated with eye
problems.
“Who among us has not suffered that awful feeling of feeling fear
because having an annual eye exam meant suffering through the
after-effect of dilation drops? While the drops make it easier for the
examining physician to see the condition or your retina...
Health
‘Label Restaurant foods for calories and cholesterol,' says doctor -
Feb 18, 2018 - 10:43:34 AM
What you are serving for lunch could be a coronary, says Darius Bain, M.D., D.M.
“You wouldn’t knowingly serve a loved one a heart attack, but we do it
all the time,” said Dr. Bain, who holds an advanced degree in Family
Medicine. “There are some deep-seated practices we have as a nation that
we seriously need to address.”
Among the first changes – labelling dishes in restaurants, particularly
fast food restaurants, to show calorie count, fats, trans-fats and
cholesterol.
“They do that in the U.S. and other places and it has not hurt business
but what it has done is to encourage fast food restaurants to offer
healthier choices,” said Dr. Bain...
Health
Carissa F. Etienne begins second term as Director of PAHO, the premier public health agency of the Americas -
Feb 2, 2018 - 5:45:20 PM
Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) and Regional Director for the Americas of the World Health
Organization (WHO), yesterday formally began her second term as head of
the 115-year-old regional public health agency.
“In this Region,
most of our countries have reached the stage where many of the easy
public health gains have already been achieved,” said Etienne in her
inaugural address...
Health
Chronic, widespread obesity driving Bahamas Type 2 Diabetes numbers up, 36,000 now believed to be diabetic -
Jan 25, 2018 - 10:49:48 AM
With an obesity rate approaching 80% of the population in The Bahamas
and obesity’s intrinsic connection to diabetes, it is little surprise
that Diabetes Type 2 is at an all-time high in the country or that the
International Diabetes Federation has declared that is “taking a
particular interest in The Bahamas.” While the 230-member country
federation’s focus is attention The Bahamas could do without, the good
news for sufferers is that new research is pointing to better outcomes
with a multi-disciplinary approach...
Health
Workshop explores ways to improve children’s learning and behavior -
Nov 30, 2017 - 10:15:49 AM
The importance of executive function skills for children was recently
highlighted in a workshop hosted by Family Medicine Center.
Sarah
Ward, a renowned expert on the topic of executive functioning, provided
simple, practical strategies and tools for teaching children how to
develop independent executive function skills.
The full-day
workshop, organized by the Mental Health Department at Family Medicine
Center was titled "Cutting Edge Strategies to Improve Executive Function
Skills".
Health
PAHO/WHO, UNAIDS call for stepping up HIV prevention efforts and offering all available options to prevent new infections -
Nov 29, 2017 - 4:18:34 PM
A new report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional
Office for the Americas of WHO, and UNAIDS says that expanding access to
all HIV prevention options that are now available would reduce the
number of new cases of HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean, which
since 2010 has remained at 120,000 every year.
Launched on the
eve of World AIDS Day, the report, HIV Prevention in the Spotlight - An
Analysis from the Perspective of the Health Sector in Latin America and
the Caribbean, analyzes progress made and challenges facing health
systems in preventing HIV transmission...
News
Baptist Health South Florida highlights importance of Orthopedic Works in The Bahamas and Caribbean -
Nov 2, 2017 - 6:44:05 AM
Two of the region’s top orthopaedic surgeons from Baptist Health South
Florida in Miami, Florida, flew into Nassau recently for the Caribbean
Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (CAOS) 12th Annual Scientific
Meeting, in which regional doctors come together to exchange new ways to
mend common issues.
The annual conference spanned in topics from
sports medicine to trauma. Charles Jordan, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at
Miami Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute, part of Baptist Health
South Florida, believes it is of the utmost importance that
organizations such as the CAOS be supported in their endeavors to hold
such academic conferences in the Caribbean...
Health
National Health Insurance (NHI) - Press Release Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) -
Oct 6, 2017 - 6:14:47 PM
Thirty-nine (39) Customer Service Representative (CSRs) will end their
six months contract with NHI today, October, 6th, 2017. These CSRs were
employed in April, 2017 and deployed chiefly at the satellite enrollment
centers, which were closed last month. Enrollment continues at NHI
headquarters and on line.
Eighteen CSRs will be reengaged on
month to month terms to perform essential functions, as the NHI Board
continues to turn its attention to the staffing of the NHI Authority...
Health
Life expectancy in the Americas increases to 75 years -
Sep 26, 2017 - 10:06:19 AM
The population of the Americas has gained 16 years in life expectancy on
average in the last 45 years, and a person who is born in the
hemisphere can now aspire to live until age 75, almost five years longer
than the world average. However, emerging and noncommunicable diseases,
which cause four out of five deaths per year, are the main challenges
in one of the most unequal regions in the world.
This
information is part of the new Health in the Americas+ 2017 report, the
latest edition of the flagship publication prepared by the Pan American
Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) every five
years since 1956..
