Be proactive

MINISTER of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col Jeffrey Bostic believes that the greatest way to assist the burden on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is to ensure that persons don’t have a reason to go to the Martindale’s Road institution in the first place.

His comments came during QEH RESPECT Staff Awards ceremony held over the weekend at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, where he stressed that, together, the provision of universal health coverage can be achieved. He noted that in spite of the private medical facilities in Barbados, somehow persons still end up at the QEH. “Even sometimes when we go overseas to receive medical treatment we still end up at the QEH. There must be something good about the QEH,” he said.

He said, “In order to assist you in doing your jobs – and I know that you have had to do so much with so little and for so long – that the best way that we can do that in my estimation is to place greater emphasis on prevention so that you would not have to do so much in terms of the curative responses to the illnesses of this nation.”

Saying that wellness will be the goal in the coming year “in a big way”, the Minister announced that last Thursday Cabinet agreed to a recommendation from his Ministry for the establishment of a Cabinet sub-committee on non-communicable diseases.

He explained “This subcommittee will meet quarterly and will comprise Ministries of Health and Wellness of course; the Ministry of Agriculture, because if we want our population to eat the right things, then we must grow the right things; the Ministry of Education, because we have to focus our education within the schools; [and] the Ministry of Community Development, because we have to take the message to every nook and cranny in the country in terms of living healthy lifestyles.”

Minister Bostic also stated that the Ministry of Commerce also needs to be included. “Because we have to deal and interact with the vendors to get them to sell the right things to our children. We have to deal with front of package labelling, so the Ministry responsible for that has to be included as well.”

The Minister told the large audience that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs also has to be a part of the subcommittee. “Because implementing taxes or “sin taxes” on the sugary stuff and tobacco and alcohol alone will not do it. We need to have a basket of health foods, stuff that will have some reduction in the taxes to make them more affordable to each and every Barbadian.”

He added that this comprehensive effort will also include a monitoring and evaluation component to measure every effort being carried out under the new subcommittee. “Because our efforts must contribute towards a reduction of the NCDs in this country, which will then make your life much easier. “

He said that the Committee, along with civil society organisations working together, can make a difference. “Not overnight, but in a few years time and that is because for me as a Minister of Health and Wellness, I am a very practical person. I don’t think we can have a policy to eliminate anything, not even the sugary stuff. It has to be a systematic reduction because unless you and I can convince the average Barbadian to eat right and live right, then we are not going to win this battle. They themselves have to be the one making decisions about their own health and this is what this is all about.”

Stressing that the Ministry is proud of the achievements of the QEH, he noted that there is still work to be done. He remarked that while some employees may not always perform at their optimum levels, there isn’t a profession which does. “Not even politicians. We have work to do in spite of the achievements so far because we have to “Go beyond the gold” and we must strive every year to do better and better because our people deserve better and better. You can do it, we can do it, we must do it. This is the legacy that we must leave for those who come after us,” he said. (JH)