Civil Society Capacity Building Workshop on Chronic Diseases Barbados, October 27-28, 2010 Beatriz Marcet Champagne

InterAmerican Heart Foundation Smokefree Mexico City Smokefree 8 provinces and 18 cities in Argentina CARMELA Study—7 major cities, 10 publications Community Interventions for Health (diet, physical activity and tobacco) Role in tobacco control in Caribbean Role in organizing civil society in Caribbean

Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

2% of the Health allocation

Health education and individual approaches frequently help the higher SES groups Individual responsibility Changes to the "toxic" environment Adapted from Puska P, 2001 Complementary approaches to chronic disease prevention POLICY CHANGE Smokefree environments Warning labels Food labeling Safe spaces for physical activity Availability and affordability of fruits & vegetables

Role of Civil Society Independent of gov’t Greater freedom to act Altruistic mission towards common good Greater consistency—not as influenced by political winds May support and pressure gov’t from the outside Other networks (scientific, businesses, etc.) Expert volunteers Relation to media May bring further funding to cause

Role of Civil Society Important tools to mobilize society: –Advocacy to influence policy makers –Media advocacy –Coalition building –Strategic planning for change –Watch dog role –Service delivery programs –Resource mobilization

CIVIL SOCIETY HAS ONE VERY SIGNIFICANT KEY

Overall Objective Consolidate and build on what has been achieved over the past two years Shape the future to ensure a good fit with opportunities and challenges

Expected Outcomes Scaling up the Healthy Caribbean Coalition Building civil society capacity in country Project priorities for next 1-2 years Road map to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Summit, Sept 2011

Working together

Introductions