110 HCON 173 IH: Supporting the goals and ideals of the U.S. House of Representatives 2007-06-21 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 173 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 21, 2007 Mrs. Jones of Ohio (for herself and Mrs. Christensen) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Supporting the goals and ideals of the First Summit of Caribbean Ministers of Health.

Whereas Congress passed by voice vote, a resolution affirming the recognition of Caribbean American Heritage during the month of June; Whereas The United States Department of State is hosting the Caribbean 20/20 conference on issues of the Caribbean-United States relationship; Whereas the Heads of Government of the 15 permanent Members of the Caribbean Community are gathered in Washington, DC; Whereas on June 8, members of the Caribbean American Community commemorated Caribbean American HIV/AIDS Awareness at the United States Capitol; Whereas healthcare and the access to healthcare in less developed nations has become subject to negotiations and agreement which heretofore have had clear and distinguishable boundaries outside of the health care arena; Whereas those agreements now impact the ability of a nation to provide services, personnel, and products to their community; Whereas the health of a nation is intricately linked and most naturally determines the economic well being of a nation; Whereas the international community has joined efforts by the coordination of various international agencies to combat the major illness and diseases in the developing world; Whereas the link between the research, treatment, and prevention of disease between the United States and our hemispheric neighbors is a critical link in the international war against treatable and curable disease; Whereas the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean, as throughout the world has had a devastating impact on the economy, the family structure, and the population at large and the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has cited the region the second most affected in the world; Whereas research has proven that one main barrier to early detection of cancers among Caribbean residents is an admitted lack of participation in public awareness programs; Whereas today, countries of the Caribbean are undergoing a demographic transition where both men and women live longer than in the past, with women living an average of 4 to 6 years longer than men; Whereas education is inextricably linked to health conditions and literacy rates require healthy minds and bodies to develop; Whereas poverty and economic factors play a major role in determining health status as well as general levels of income and expenditure; Whereas overall, chronic noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death, with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and injuries are top causes of death in the Caribbean region; Whereas while childhood infections have decreases as a cause of death, nutritional deficiencies have increased and in early adulthood, diabetes, suicide, and homicide have increased as causes of death in the past 15 years; Whereas the nations of the Caribbean have demonstrated a commitment in both time and resources to the improvement of health care delivery, access, and treatment of its citizens through their membership and participation in and partnership with other nations and international institutions; and Whereas the United States Library of Congress will play host to the first and most historic meeting of the Ministers of Health from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) group to discuss the health of the region and plans to use the resources of the region as well as its public/private partnerships designed to improve the health and welfare of their nations: Now, therefore, be it

That the Congress— (1)supports the goals and ideals of the First Summit of Caribbean Ministers of Health; (2)encourages all international agencies, non­governmental agencies, private voluntary organizations, governments, individuals both here in the United States and globally to recognize this historic event; and (3)encourages the continued coordination of the nations of the region to combat health crises as a region.