PUERTO AYACUCHO, Venezuela (Reuters) -- A potentially devastating outbreak of swine flu among the Yanomami Indians in Venezuela's Amazon rainforest appears to be contained after a rapid medical response in the isolated zone. Since the 1960s, the Yanomami population has been hard hit by illnesses. read more...

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CASTRIES, St Lucia -- The Ministry of Health in St Lucia has confirmed the first H1N1 related death. The individual was a 45 year old male with no pre-existing medical conditions. The patient had remained at home for several days while suffering from severe respiratory symptoms, before he sought medical attention. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- In response to the H1N1 pandemic, Red Cross societies around the Caribbean are supporting their statutory health care systems in preparing communities to respond to H1N1. Thanks to funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)... read more...

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GEORGTOWN, Guyana -- Meaningful and lasting partnerships are critical to an effective response to HIV and AIDS in the Pan Caribbean region, particularly in the face of stern social and economic challenges. These were the views expressed when the 65-member Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and... read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP) -- The number of people with HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean is on the decline, but more must be done to contain the disease, a senior official said, on the eve of a regional meeting on the ailment. Latest statistics show that 230,000 people in the Caribbean live with HIV and AIDS. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are expecting the first shipment of the HINI vaccine to arrive in the region late November, as they prepare for further attacks from the H1N1 Virus otherwise known as, the swine flu. The vaccine will provide immunisation... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) -- Cuba announced that three pregnant women died after contracting swine flu, the first report of A(H1N1) casualties on the communist island. "We unfortunately have to regret three confirmed cases of people who died" of swine flu, Deputy Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda said. read more...

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- “Telemedicine has the potential to be a key enabler in the transformation of health care delivery to the island,” said Premier of Nevis, Joseph Parry at the University of Virginia Health Care Center last Tuesday. By overcoming barriers in distance and time, telemedicine has been... read more...

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PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- Health authorities in Suriname have reported a second swine flu-related death, while the number of patients suffering from the influenza AH1N1-virus reached 106. The ministry of Public Health disclosed that a number of test results were received from the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Health meeting in Washington DC, USA at their 18th Caucus fully endorsed the time table for the establishment of the Caribbean Public Health Authority (CARPHA) in 2010. Among the actions leading up to the start up of CARPHA are... read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The implementation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework (CRSF) on HIV and AIDS (2008 -2012) along with the development of the Priority Area Co-ordinating Committee (PACC) and the proposed constitution for the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS... read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA -- US Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen met with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman on Tuesday in advance of the final committee mark-up on HR 3200, the America Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Cuba’s Health Minister has approved a new program seeking to decrease the number of cases of cancer in the country, where the disease is considered a “silent epidemics”. Granma newspaper reports that the new strategy called “Comprehensive Program for Cancer Control”... read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA -- At the Consultation Workshop on Consumers Health in the Americas, organized jointly by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, asserted that the issue of consumer health and rights is... read more...

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CASTRIES, St Lucia -- The Ministries of Health and Education in St Lucia are presently involved in the investigation of an outbreak of flu-like illness at a secondary school in the north of the island. A number of students from one form of that school reported to school with flu-like symptoms. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Sixty-four newly registered doctors who recently after completing their training under the Guyana/Cuba scholarship programme have taken up their responsibilities as general medical practitioners at various health posts across the country. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA -- US Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen applauded President Barack Obama’s speech on health care reform, calling it a great speech that was clear, defining, and inspiring. “As far as I can see he stuck to what he laid out from the very beginning,” Christensen said. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- Cuba’s Resident Ambassador to St Kitts and Nevis, Ana María González informed Prime Minister Denzil Douglas and Minister of Health, Rupert Herbert, when they met with the resident Cuban medical team, that more than 15,000 patients were screened by Cuban ophthalmologists. read more...

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PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- Since the first eleven confirmed cases of the A-H1N1 influenza virus, commonly known as swine flu, were reported in June, the number of people in Suriname infected with the disease has reached 67. In an update report the Ministry of Health on Monday noted that from a... read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The Second Caribbean Wellness Day was launched on Thursday at the headquarters of the Caribbean Community Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana, with several countries indicating their preparedness for the September 12 observance, under the theme: Love that Body. read more...

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- Nevis will join the rest of the Caribbean in observance of Caribbean Wellness Day on September 13th under the theme “Love That Body” but the island’s health officials plan to celebrate wellness leading to and after the event. Health Planner in the Ministry of Health Nicole Slack-Liburd told... read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Consultant on Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Dr Alafia Samuels, has expressed the hope that the concept of Caribbean Wellness Day will stimulate increased physical activity and exercise among individuals. read more...

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ST CROIX, USVI -- Health Commissioner Designee Julia Sheen has announced that results of an autopsy confirmed today the first death related to the H1N1 virus in the US Virgin Islands. “We are saddened by the news that a resident of St Croix died after becoming ill with the H1N1 virus,” Sheen said. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- With less than two weeks to go to Caribbean Wellness Day, 13 September, plans are in high gear across the Caribbean region to mark the day. Bermuda, which already has a national healthy lifestyle programme called Well Bermuda, will continue to strengthen that programme. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The Caribbean Community Secretariat will once again join Member States within the Community to observe Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD) on Saturday 12 September, 2009 as CARICOM seeks to promote healthy lifestyle through physical activity. Among the slate of activities proposed... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) -- Cuban health authorities have warned of a dramatic rise in AIDS cases among the young on the island, where there over 1,300 new HIV infections in 2008 and another 1,400 are estimated for this year. Cubans aged 19 to 24 are at the greatest risk of infection. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- After receiving their graduate certificates, 55 Haitian doctors who studied in the Caribbean Medical Faculty of Santiago de Cuba, in the eastern region of Cuba, will start working in their homeland. The new graduates will receive their certificates this Friday in a ceremony in Port au Prince. read more...

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- The Caribbean Cardiac Society (CCS) hosted its 24th Annual Caribbean Cardiology Conference in Barbados July 28 – 31, 2009 under the theme “Meeting the Emerging Challenges to Cardiovascular Care in the Caribbean”. The Conference welcomed some 180 participants. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (AFP) -- Former US president Bill Clinton has announced a deal with two major US drug companies to supply cheap HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatments to developing countries, including the Caribbean. Under the agreement, Mylan and its subsidiary Matrix will make available a second-line therapy. read more...

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- Nevis recorded its first confirmed case of the H1N1 virus (Swine Flu). This brings the Federation’s total number of confirmed cases to four. According to a press release issued by Medical Officer in Health on Nevis Dr Judy Nisbett from the Ministry of Health, Department of Public Health... read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Bloomberg) -- Hispanics who move to the US are at greater risk for getting cancer than those living in their countries of origin, whether they’re from Mexico, Puerto Rico or Cuba, according to a study. Cancer rates of Hispanic immigrants living in Florida were 40 percent higher. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- An agreement to create a regional eye centre for Jamaica and the member nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was signed in Kingston by representatives from that country and Cuba. Health Minister Rudyard Spencer and Cuba’s ambassador, Gisela García signed the document. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- United States' Risk Communication (RC) Consultant, Dr Jody Lanard, says that Jamaica's risk communication, in relation to the current Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, is among the best in the world. Public health officials use RC to give citizens necessary and appropriate information. read more...

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GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- There may be no escape from H1N1 pandemic flu, which according to the latest World Health Organisation figures has spread to the most remote parts of the planet including popular island getaways. The WHO said more than 20 countries and territories had their first cases. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) -- Health authorities have advised residents of St Kitts and Nevis not to panic in the wake of the first recorded death from the H1N1 Virus. A 28-year-old woman, with no recent history of travel, was announced as the first local person to die from the virus. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) --St Kitts and Nevis has recorded its first death as a result of the H1N1 virus. The Chief Medical Officer Dr Patrick Martin made the announcement on Monday during a press conference. On Friday, the Ministry of Health received the results of two confirmed cases. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- Guyana has cut the ribbon on a GY$500 million (US $2.5m) ophthalmology center where patients who previously would have been flown to Cuba for free eye surgery can seek treatment. President Bharrat Jagdeo says the center is one of several institutions built with help from Cuba. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The number of H1N1 cases is increasing in Guyana as three more persons have been diagnosed with the pandemic commonly called swine flu, pushing the total to five confirmed cases and over two dozen suspected. This was confirmed by the country’s Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy. read more...

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ST CROIX, USVI -- Five members of the USVI Little League team who were competing in a regional tournament in Curacao have been taken ill with the H1N1 flu. Acting USVI Health Commissioner Julia Sheen said in a press release issued by her office on Friday she had been in contact with the physician. read more...

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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- Late on Friday afternoon, CAREC’s lab in Trinidad confirmed that a 31-year-old male resident of the Cayman Islands, who died this week, had H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu. Health officials, who have been in contact with the family from the start, have met with the family. read more...

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