Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says T&T is an unhealthy society ranked 88th among the healthiest countries in the world by Bloomberg.
He appealed for citizens to take personal responsibility for their health and warned that the country was in the midst of a health crisis.
In his remarks at the launch of a Biomedical Engineering (BME) Conference at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain, Deyalsingh advised citizens that their health is not the sole responsibility of the State.
Instead, it had to be a partnership with individuals assuming responsibility for their primary healthcare and Government providing secondary services to those requiring further diagnosis and treatment.
Deyalsingh said his ministry had made strides in the past several months in reducing infant and maternal mortality.
However, he added: “We cannot go on as a society pretending we don’t have an NCD crisis.”
According to the minister, T&T’s population was under attack from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and inactivity.
He is calling for the ministry’s newest slogan, Healthy Me, Healthy You, Healthy T&T, to be adopted by the population and said he wants people to transform eating habits and ensure exercise becomes a part of their daily regimen.
Deyalsingh said the ban on sugary drinks in schools is only one part of a thrust to reduce unhealthy caloric intake by students. He said constant offers of up-sizing fast food orders and unlimited soft-drink refills are contributing to an epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
