Roadtown, Tortola - Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn OBE, QC is keenly looking forward to the launch of the Task Force for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases.
The new task force will be launched on Monday, 22 June at a ceremony in the conference room at Maria’s-by-the-Sea Hotel and Restaurant in Road Town.
“I am passionate about ensuring that we do everything possible to delay the onset of chronic non-communicable diseases among our people. My interest is among the main reasons why I continue to lead regular Heart Healthy Walks, and why I encourage members of the community to join those walks and generally pay attention to their health,” she said.
During the local observance of Caribbean Wellness Day last September the minister also expressed her concern about the rising incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases within the Territory and stressed that the related cost to the health care system, and the economy and society as a whole, is extremely high.
At that time Honourable Penn emphasised the growing number of dialysis patients who are being treated at Peebles Hospital and encouraged people in the Territory to engage in regular exercise, eat healthy, to minimise stress, and to stop smoking. The minister’s appeal to people in the Territory was reiterated earlier this month in her radio message for Caribbean Nutrition Day.
Honourable Penn is expected to speak at the official launch of the task force which will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday.
The objectives of Task Force for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases include mobilising a territorial response to combating chronic diseases, conducting a situational analysis of chronic diseases in the Virgin Islands (UK), to assess the current profile of the population, and to advocate for a chronic non-communicable disease programme in the Ministry of Health and Social Development that emphasises prevention and control of chronic diseases.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development aspires to provide leadership that promotes health, social wellbeing, and a safe environment as positive resources for living and sustainable development of the Virgin Islands (UK).
British Virgin Islands News