The upcoming Cayman Islands’ Healthcare Conference, under the theme ‘The Chapters of a Healthy Life’, will bring together a variety of speakers from the Caribbean region and beyond, to discuss some of the defining aspects in every chapter of not only our own lives but for those around us.

This year’s opening night speaker, Dr C. James Hospedales, will be outlining the goals that will need to be reached in order to achieve a healthier Caribbean region. A citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Hospedales has been the Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency since February 2013. He played a key role in increasing priority and resources for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including helping to organize the CARICOM and UN Summits on NCDs. He pioneered the Pan American Forum for Action on NCDs, which brings together governments, civil society, academia and business. He has also been a champion for civil society involvement in efforts to improve health, and helped catalyse the formation of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition.

Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Dr Fitzroy Henry, will present arguments in his presentation ‘Nutrition: The Preface to a Healthy Life’ that family health is more likely to be enhanced through policy and structural changes to the nutrition environment than medical interventions. For 18 years, Dr Henry was the Director of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute — a specialized centre of PAHO/World Health Organization which served 18 Caribbean Countries. To date, he has published more than 100 scientific articles on food and nutrition in illness, wellness and sports; diarrhoeal diseases; chronic disease; obesity and Public Health.

Detailing ‘A New Approach to Increasing Population Physical Activity’, Dr Colin Higgs will bring his years of knowledge in the field of sport science, educational technology, and sport system organization. Much of Dr Higgs work has been in the area of improving sport for persons with a disability, including the design of equipment and optimisation of training and performance techniques. In addition to his academic involvement, he has coached athletes both with and without disabilities at world championship level. This work was recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) when he became the first-ever recipient of the IPC Sport Science Award.

Dr Wael Barsoum, President of Cleveland Clinic Florida, will discuss how someone can change a chapter of their life by changing their behaviour. Dr Barsoum is a proven leader who has directed several initiatives to improve clinical outcomes, patient experience, and hospital operations. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and is involved in the training of future physicians as a Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

Committed sponsors this year include: Ironshore Pharmaceuticals, Tenet International Health Solutions, Tower, the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority, Dart, BAF Insurance, Dart, 3T Cayman, Cleveland Clinic, Pinnacle Media, CINICO, BritCay, Marsh, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Broward Health, Jackson Memorial, The Wellness Centre, Generali Worldwide, the Ministry of Community Affairs, Youth & Sports, Public Health Department and Cayman Airways, among others.

For further information about the conference, visit www.healthcareconference.ky.