Speaking in Parliament today, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton once again drew attention to the growing health risk of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to Jamaicans and the efforts that have to be made to prevent them.
Below is his address:
Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to again call the attention of this honourable House to Jamaica’s growing problem of non-communicable diseases, NCDs; and the requirement for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach in our response.
Context
We have a sick population, Madam Speaker. 1 in 3 Jamaicans has hypertension; 1 in 8 has diabetes; and 1 in 2 is overweight or obese, which is a modifiable risk factor for NCDs – together with tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets. Further, four of every 10 people living with these diseases are unaware of their status.
Jamaicans are also dying younger. The analysis of the deaths in 2020 found that 59 per cent or 12,747 people had died early, that is, before their 75th birthday; and NCDs are a significant driver of those numbers. NCD deaths in 2020 were the cause of some 144,853 potential years of life lost – a 30 per cent increase in potential years of life lost or 33,775 more years lost per year in a decade.
Madam Speaker, as I explained in my Sectoral presentation in May, this rate of increase for persons dying early from NCDs was greater than for all causes: 30 per cent increase for NCDs compared to 19 per cent for all causes. The data is telling us that more Jamaicans die from sudden and unexpected emergencies like heart attacks and strokes or lose their limbs because they have diabetes and are unaware that they do. Our people are dying earlier than they ought to have if they knew their health status and we must do something about it.
The response
Madam Speaker, the reality is such that as a Ministry of Health & Wellness, we have had to be deliberate and consistent in championing behaviour change through public education and awareness raising, while creating the necessary enabling environment for people to do their health checks and to access care through our upgraded health centres.
This includes the recent launch of the Ministry’s national health screening intervention, #KnowYourNumbers, which not only encourages Jamaicans to get in the know about their health status but also seeks to ensure that they are provided with opportunities to do so.
It is through this intervention that I announce today the initiation of a programme centred around the Members of Parliament, as key changemakers for public health.
- MPs are to be provided with, in the first instance, one million dollars each to host at least two health fairs in their constituencies. These health fairs will give our people the chance to know their numbers. Once they become aware of their numbers, the next step is to make the needed lifestyle adjustments, including coming into care. This requires that we continue to make the needed improvements to the physical infrastructure at our health facilities, to ensure that they are able to accommodate those in need while delivering the required care management for the best possible health outcomes.
- We are, therefore, also providing MPs with an additional two million dollars to see to improvements at one of their local health centres, in line with our efforts at primary care reform and the need to restore credibility to our primary care facilities.
Madam Speaker, our MPs, given their network and breadth of responsibilities, have an essential role to play in the NCD’s response. We want MPs to work with the Regional Health Authorities and the parish health authorities to identify one facility as a beneficiary of this #KnowYourNumbers intervention. We would also like you to use each health centre, once identified, for the staging of one additional health fair in order to mobilise support for the facility and to promote its use by local community members.
If each MP can do three health fairs, we can see 189 such events hosted this summer. If we assume, on average, that 80 to 100 people will participate per event, this #KnowYourNumbers intervention, the Summer Edition, can reach 15,120 to 18,900 people for screening. It means that 15,120 to 18,900 Jamaicans can know their health status this summer even as we enhance the attractiveness and utility value of 63 health centres for them to access care.
We are also inviting our MPs to mobilise additional financial support for the upgrade and maintenance of the benefitting health centres, whether from their Constituency Development Fund or through their communities. What we propose is that MPs scale up their efforts beyond the two million dollars on offer to support the chosen benefitting health centre.
Madam Speaker, #KnowYourNumbers provides us with the chance to accelerate the reform of primary healthcare and to deliver care to people where they are. We must take this opportunity.
Of note, Madam Speaker is that the programme will be implemented by the respective Regional Health Authorities, which will liaise with the National Health Fund, an agency of the Ministry of Health & Wellness, to assist with coordination and funding.
We have already made #KnowYourNumbers stops in Clarendon and St. Mary. More than 400 individuals have benefitted from just two activations on those stops. Some 320 individuals were reached in Clarendon where 600 blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar checks were done together with more than 80 dental exams and 85 HIV tests. Some 38 eye exams were also done, and 30 reading glasses were given to members of the public.
Conclusion
Over in St. Mary, 89 persons were reached, with 185 blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar tests done, in addition to 24 Pap smears, 10 HIV tests and 30 vision checks.
Madam Speaker, the members of this honourable House and the people of Jamaica can expect to see these screening numbers grow in the coming weeks and months. I urge the participation of all stakeholders from the different settings – in school, at work and inside communities – to ensure their success.
The NCDs problem requires all our best efforts if we are to turn the tide on the associated illnesses and premature deaths that now plague the population. I feel sure that, working together, we can do it.
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