A local medical facility specializing in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the two biggest killers in the Caribbean, heart disease and cancer, has been awarded the highest grants provided by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), it was reported yesterday.

The grants were awarded to the Bahamas Heart Center and The Cancer Centre Bahamas to enable both facilities to increase regional awareness of the depth of their services, equipment, open heart and cancer surgeons, oncologists, pediatric and other specialists and support medical staff. The Cancer Centre Bahamas and the Bahamas

Heart Center are located at The Centreville Medical Pavilion, Collins Avenue. News of the CEDA grants came just months after The Cancer Centre Bahamas earned re-accreditation through 2012 by the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO), making it the only one in the Western Hemisphere and one of only two in the world outside the U.S. to be accredited under ACRO?s stringent standards.

?We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this significant grant,? said Dr. Conville Brown, MD, MBBS, FACC, one of the founders and CEO of the state-of-the-art facility that recently underwent major expansion. ?The funds will make it possible for us to provide information about our competencies, services and tiered payment solutions so persons in the Caribbean do not have to feel compelled to leave the region, but feel a sense of comfort in knowing they can be treated close to home.?

CEDA awards grants of up to 70 percent of a proposed project?s cost to eligible private sector businesses, professions or organizations in the Caribbean. In compliance with the agency?s guidelines, The Cancer Centre Bahamas and Bahamas Heart Center will be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the three-month awareness initiative.

The CEDA grant program provides assistance to private sector Caribbean companies to aid in the enhancement of their capacity, development of new products or access to regional markets. All businesses in the region that have the potential to export their products or increase exports are eligible to apply with priority given to companies involved in new sectors and innovative projects, including creative industries, health & wellness, information & communication technology and professional services.

About The Cancer Centre Bahamas
The Cancer Centre Bahamas is among the leading comprehensive cancer screening, diagnostic and treatment centres in the English-speaking Caribbean. The centre is the only one of its kind in the Western Hemisphere to be accredited by the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO), and the second in the world outside the United States to have achieved such recognition (the other located near Vatican City in Rome, Italy). It?s also one of the few in the region equipped and staffed to serve paediatric cancer patients.

About The Bahamas Heart Center
Founded in 1990, the Bahamas Heart Center brings together a respected group of cardiac specialists under one roof with competencies to perform a broad range of general and specialized cardiac and cardiac-related services, from screening and diagnosis to open heart surgery.

About The Caribbean Export Development Agency
The Caribbean Export Development Agency was established by an intergovernmental agreement signed by member states of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) on January 1, 1996. It is a regional trade and investment development and promotion organisation of the fifteen CARIFORUM member states namely: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.