BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS the Caribbean region marks September 10-18 as “Wellness Week”, concerns are being raised over the high incidents of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Americas.
St. Kitts and Nevis is not excluded from the list of countries in the region where NCDs are prevalent.
In fact, health officials in the Federation have pleaded to citizens and residents to take their health and eating habits seriously.
In a statement to mark September 10, 2016, Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD), Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr. C. James Hospedales pointed out that since its inception in 2008, the CWD has raised awareness in relation to NCDs and this year is no different.
According to the statement, the Caribbean region has the highest burden of NCDs in the Americas and is in the midst of a rapidly growing childhood obesity epidemic.
To substantiate this assertion, Dr. Hospedales pointed out that “at least one in every five of our children are carrying unhealthy weights and at risk of developing NCDs and other problems later in life. With such conditions prevalent in the region, it is important to get and use solutions that might help with these challenges”.
Just recently at the launching of the CIBC First Caribbean Walk for the Cure, Junior Minister in the Ministry of Heath Wendy Phipps urged that citizens minimize their intake of fatty and other food that would drive their unhealthy lifestyle that could see them developing hypertension, heart disease and cancer.
Addressing a recent workshop, Minister of Health Hon. Eugene Hamilton noted that with the proposed plan to have the National Insurance Scheme rolled out early next year, the Health Ministry would want to ensure “that when persons access the service it is because they really need to, not because their lifestyle overly causes them to do so”.
“I already know that the comprehensive health insurance will save some lives. That is why Minister Phipps and I have been working to get the oncology unit,” Minister Hamilton was quoted as saying by the Government Information Service.
He recently told the media that on average, the Federation records approximately 47 new cancer cases per year - a trend heading in the downward direction.
Regional leaders also have their eyes on the issue, since it was one of the topics up for discussion during the recently held CARICOM Heads of Government Summit in Georgetown, Guyana.
“...we agreed to address the issue like banning smoking in public places; trade-related measures; banning the advertising of potentially harmful foods with which specifically target children and elevating taxes on foods high in sugar, salt and trans fat,” according to Chairman of CARICOM, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt
According to Dr. Hospedales, CARPHA aims to stop and reverse the rise in obesity among children and adolescents by 2025, noting that they are working with member states to support national implementation to achieve this.
These actions will ensure that the environments in which our Caribbean children live and learn are more supportive of physical activity and healthy eating; that our communities are empowered to embrace healthy living, the CARHA head stated.
Among measures to be implemented are: “Establish nutrition labelling of processed foods; reduce salt and sugar consumption; advocate to ban the importation of products containing trans fats; reduce marketing of unhealthy foods and ‘fast foods’ to children; promote physical activities; introduce public recreational spaces; promote consumption of local fruits and vegetables; and align taxes with nutritional value.”
