The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment continues to tackle Chronic Non-communicable Diseases (NCD’s) with focused intervention and prevention strategies.
In commemoration of Caribbean Wellness Day, a month of activities dealing with NCD’s was launched earlier today at a ceremony at Beachcombers Hotel.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment Hon St. Clair Prince said Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases are a threat to the nation’s overall health and wellbeing and must be treated as such.
Minister Prince noted that a collective national response is required as well as a change in lifestyle and habits of everyone to reduce the incidences of diabetes and hypertension.
“When we look at it closely, these (NCD’s) present very serious socio-economic problems for a small island developing state like St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Prince said.
The Health Minister affirmed that the Ministry is redoubling efforts to respond to this scourge and greater emphasis will be placed on NCD’s going forward.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Roger Duncan echoed the Health Minister’s sentiments, noting that responsible choices must be made and encouraged as NCD’s not only put a strain on the country’s health sector and finances, they are the leading cause of death in this country.