Public Responds Favourably to Caribbean Wellness Day 

Minister of Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC presents a copy of the new book “Take it to Heart on the Road with Heart Disease: The Life Changing Journey,” to PAHO/WHO regional representative Dr. Gina Watson during last Saturday’s Caribbean Wellness Day Rally. (Photo credit: Doron Hodge/GIS)

Scores of residents from various communities participated in a Territory-wide Heart Healthy Walks led by the Minister of Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC, who walked from the New Testament Church of God in Baugher’s Bay to the Central Administration Building.

Other groups of walkers started at the Valerie O. Thomas Community Centre in Sea Cows Bay; the Agape Total Life Centre at Anderson Estate; and from the Church of God of Prophecy at Huntum’s Ghut. The walks on Tortola all ended at the Central Administration Building with a brief rally in the Breezeway.

There were similar events on the sister islands of Anegada, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke.

Participants included House of Assembly members Dr. the Honourable Vincent Scatliffe and Honourable Elvis Harrigan and

The Minister of Health and Social Development is pictured with some of the persons who participated in last Saturday’s Territory-wide Hearth Healthy Walk. (Photo credit: Doron Hodge/GIS)

She made specific mention of the sharp increase in the number of persons, which presently stands at 30, who require dialysis treatment at Peebles Hospital.
 
To date, 63 persons have received regular treatment since the local dialysis unit began operating in 2000 and when only three persons required the treatment. The Minister noted that 33 dialysis patients have died within the last five years.

“The youngest person currently on dialysis is 13 years while the oldest is over 80,” she said, stressing the fact that age is not always a determining factor in a person’s risk for developing a chronic non-communicable disease. 

~~Adz:Left~~ According to the Minister, the average global prevalence for the number of persons who require dialysis treatment is one in every 1,000 and that considering the Territory’s population of approximately 25,000 persons, there is a prevalence of dialysis patients that is significantly higher than international averages.

The Minister made an appeal for the public to take preventive measures to reduce their chances of contracting chronic non-communicable diseases. These includes engaging in regular physical exercise, avoiding tobacco and other harmful drugs, reducing their intake of salty foods and alcoholic beverages, and following a healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

Saturday’s rally included a testimony from BVI native Dr. Sebulita Christopher, who shared her personal experience with a heart attack emphasising the telltale signs in women, which experts say are different to the signs that men experience. Dr. Christopher also launched her new book entitled “Take it to Heart on the Road with Heart Disease: The Life Changing Journey,” which documents her encounter.

The ceremony also included remarks from Dr. Rudy Cummings of the CARICOM Secretariat and Dr. Gina Watson who is the PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. President of the BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association Dr. Birney Harrigan chaired Saturday’s ceremony.

Caribbean Wellness Day was observed under the theme “Love That Body.” It commemorated the anniversary of the CARICOM Heads of Government Summit in September 2007, which issued that Port-of-Spain Declaration “Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic Non-communicable Diseases.” The general objective was to launch a series of ongoing population based physical activities to promote healthy living for the prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases.