As the Ministry of Health steps up efforts to reclaim T&T from the scourge of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) currently crippling it, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says the Government is committed to doing everything to ensure the next generation is more healthy and fit.
Among the efforts will be the establishment of public outdoor gyms in strategic locations and the introduction of a national physical activity plan specially targeting the elderly and children.
While the funding for these initiatives will come from a US$48.4 million loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Deyalsingh said other efforts would be channeled into a massive public education campaign in a bid to transform the mental and physical well-being of the population.
The proposed initiatives will be implemented on a phased basis over a five-year period.
Speaking at the launch of the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2017-2021 at the Trinidad Hilton yesterday, Deyalsingh said they were even considering a television series on healthy cooking alternatives for the family.
He said this was all in keeping with Government’s thrust to reduce NCD’s and motivate persons to embark on a lifestyle change.
Revealing that he had shocked his communications team when he informed them of his wish to rebrand the Ministry of Health with a new tagline “Healthy Me, Healthy You, Healthy T&T”, Deyalsingh said firm and decisive action was needed now if they were to have a positive impact in transforming behaviour modification.
Claiming that this country’s population was “too sedentary,” Deyalsingh said, “People must not wake up on a morning and take their sugar pill or take their hypertension pill and then sit down for the res t of the day. We have to get the country moving.”
Revealing that he walked everywhere now and had even moved his desk to a counter which required him to stand, Deyalsingh said this was now part of his personal effort to keep fit.
He also urged persons to think carefully before consuming fast foods as despite the affordability and availability, it had long-lasting effects on a person’s health.
Adding that a significant part of the loan would be used to retrain and equip primary healthcare workers with the necessary tools to treat people at the community level, Deyalsingh said the ministry was working towards moving the population away from secondary and tertiary care facilities unless absolutely necessary.
He commended the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) for its initiative to reintroduce home visits as part of its effort to educate persons on their particular illness and the requisite treatment which would not require them to come to the hospital each time.
Hailing T&T as a pioneer in the fight against NCD’s, IDB Chief Operations officer Carina Cockburn said 80 per cent of all deaths in T&T were attributable to NCD’s.
As the country with the highest NCD rate in the Americas, Cockburn said over 50 per cent of the population aged 15 - 64 years were overweight or obese - with rates of overweight and obesity in school children aged five to 18 having increased from 11 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2009.
She added that over the same ten year period, obesity in children increased by 400 per cent from 2.4 per cent to 12.5 per cent.
Cockburn said it was a similar development since 1980 regarding the prevalence of diabetes in T&T which had increased by 350 per cent, from four per cent to current estimates of 14.5 per cent.
Acknowledging the gravity of the situation as highlighted by the figures above, Cockburn said, “We often forget the human and emotional side of NCD’s.”
She added, “The truth of the matter is that NCD’s are non-discriminatory, affecting people of every ethnicity and economic status, plaguing our loved ones and disrupting the social fabric of our families and communities.”
Claiming that NCD’s were preventable in many instances, Cockburn said, “The loan programme will provide funding support to implement key activities set out in the NCD Strategic Plan with an emphasis on using evidence based solutions to improve access to preventative, screening, promotive, and curative services.”
In addition, the loan will also seek to empower individuals and communities to control, improve and maintain their health to ensure the next generation of Trinbagonians are healthier than the previous.
