Tufton targets sick population to cut NCDs
Published:Wednesday | July 5, 2023 | 1:43 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
MEMBERS OF Parliament have been challenged to get involved in promoting health screenings for their constituents in an effort to arrest Jamaica’s worrying non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or lifestyle diseases which are directly related to the food one eats, the level of physical activity and the amount of alcohol consumed, as well as the amount of tobacco smoked.
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton on Tuesday told the House of Representatives that Jamaica has a sick population, with one in three Jamaicans afflicted with hypertension (high blood pressure), one in eight with diabetes (sugar) and one in two obese or overweight. These conditions, he explained, are made worse by the consumption of alcohol and smoking. Add to that, the fact that four out of every 10 of the persons with these diseases are unaware of their health status, the health and wellness minister warned.
“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,” he appealed to parliamentarians.
He continued: “I announce today the initiation of a programme centred around the members of parliament, as key change makers for public health.
“MPs are to be provided with, in the first instance, $1 million 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 on the required care management for the best possible health outcomes.
Health centre improvement
“The tests to be screened for are hypertension, body max index, diabetes and cholesterol.
“We are, therefore, also providing MPs with an additional $2 million 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.”
Tufton charged each MP that, given their network and breadth of responsibilities, they have an essential role to play in the NCDs 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.”
The tests to be conducted are for hypertension, body max index, diabetes and cholesterol and Opposition Spokesman on Health, Dr Morais Guy, in welcoming the initiative, suggested that prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is used to detect anomalies of the prostate gland, be added to the screening list.
In response, Tufton explained that it had been on the list during a recent round of health fairs and added that the data collected from the health fairs would be used in determining the next round of health intervention.