Denzil Douglas, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, will deliver the main address at the presentation ceremony for the 14th Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism on November 3, at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in Barbados.

Dr. Douglas is the official spokesman on HIV/AIDS and other health-related matters for the Caribbean Heads of Government. He has been repeatedly praised by several world leaders for his leadership role in the fight against the deadly disease.

New awards

Among the new awards to be presented will be the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM Award. This award will be given for the coverage of gender-related issues.

The regional selection panel wrapped up their judging in Barbados in a two-day session on September 15 and 16, when they reviewed over 90 submissions. Arising from this exercise some 23 awards will be made in the 26 available categories to journalists from several countries in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean.

Besides the UNIFEM Award, the organisers have added two media fellowships to the mix of prizes, which are being sponsored by the US based Kaiser Media Fellowships Programme and Panos Caribbean. The Kaiser Fellowship will provide a short internship in health journalism in Washington DC in June 2007. The Panos Caribbean Fellowship will cover a guided assignment at an international HIV/AIDS conference also in the summer of 2007.

Another first time presentation will be the Sagicor Award for non chronic communicable diseases.