St. George’s, Grenada - The Caribbean region has faced a steady increase in deaths due to injuries and violence resulting in premature deaths, disability, costs to the health service, lost productivity with subsequent effects on the family, community and society as a whole. Based on the mounting evidence to suggest that this is a growing public health problem in the region, the health sector needs to respond with leadership action. For this reason, Violence and Injury Prevention has been chosen as the theme for the 60th Caribbean Public Health Agency’s (CARPHA) Health Research Conference in Grenada this year.

Conference Chairman and Director of Research at CARPHA, Dr. Donald T. Simeon, revealed that from 2000-2012, 41,327 people died from injuries and violence accounting for 9.0% of the total deaths in the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.  He added that during that period, death from injuries and violence ranked fourth in leading cause of death after cerebrovascular disease (10.2%), diabetes mellitus (9.8%) and Ischemic Heart Disease (9.5%).

The conference will include more than 170 presentations of original research as well as four feature lectures.  In addition to the main theme, researchers will address a myriad of health topics such as nutrition; communicable diseases such as HIV and Chikungunya, chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers; mental health including substance use; family health and health services.

The Awards Banquet is another key feature of the Caribbean Health Research Conference which, this year, has attracted more than 200 participants including health researchers, doctors, nurses, nutritionists, medical students and policy advisors from around the Region and beyond. One of the highlights of the conference is the Awards Banquet and in 2015 three outstanding Caribbean health research scientists who have made significant contributions to the health of the Caribbean peoples will be honoured. They are Prof Susan Walker – University of the West Indies Mona Jamaica, Prof Horace Fletcher – University of the West Indies Mona, Jamaica, and Prof Dave Chadee – University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

There will also be prizes based on presentations made during the Conference including the Young Researcher of the Year Award, the Student’s Prize and the Best Poster Prize.

For further information on the 60th CARPHA Health Research Conference, persons may visithttp://conference.carpha.org/ (CARPHA Press Release)