The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) is the only alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean sub-region, which has the highest NCD mortality rates in the Region of the Americas.
HCC has maintained official relations with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) since 2012. Collaboration between the two was formalized in 2020 through a series of letters of agreement that have facilitated significant achievements in several priority strategies related to NCDs in the Caribbean.
Nutrition labeling is a key area of joint work. The Caribbean subregion has long been engaged in the complex process of incorporating warning labels on the front of food products. As a strategic partner of PAHO, HCC is advocating for octagonal warning labels on the front of food products to be included in the Caribbean standard for the labeling of prepackaged foods.
As part of broader regional efforts to communicate and promote healthy food policies, PAHO and HCC have led a series of digital campaigns in several countries with regional partners such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, national civil society organizations and nearly 1500 individuals in the Caribbean who have expressed support for the inclusion of octagonal warning labels and have called for greater transparency and accountability in the standard setting process.