Attack on NCDs to be ramped up

Ministry of Health and Wellness officials are giving the assurance that the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease and an increase in amputations in Barbados have not gone unnoticed.

In fact, they are promising to ramp up efforts to cut the number of deaths associated with the non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Dr Sonia Browne, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness with responsibility for NCDs, said the COVID-19 pandemic had succeeded in putting NCDs issues on the back burner.

However, she pointed out that with the continued ease in restrictions associated with the pandemic “it is my mission and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to see that this become a forefront issue”.

“We are not proud that we are considered the capital of amputations in the world. But this is where we now see that the focus, financially, has to be placed on the primary care setting where we address the NCDs at an early stage,” said Dr Browne.

“Some of it you can’t help in terms of genetics, but some of them you can – like obesity, needs to be addressed. The control or prevention of diabetes needs to be addressed in the primary care setting and this will be aided by the nine polyclinics which we have and the outpatient clinics,” she added.

She said the fight against the health scourge will require the involvement of all sectors and continued education and awareness starting from the kindergarten level and extending to adjustments and inputs from parents and guardians, sweetened beverage and snack manufacturers and the School Meals Department.

“I also want to hasten to add that the NCD fight has to involve not only the Ministry of Health and Wellness, but almost all the other ministries,” said Browne. She issued a call for the Ministry of Transport to provide more walk paths.

“We need to tackle the issue like labelling of packages . . . The Town and Country Planning for instance, needs to address the location of fast food outlets. We have come to see that many of the fast food outlets have been located right next to or in close proximity to schools. These are some of the areas that we need to address with respect to NCDs,” she explained.

Her comments came on Wednesday during the 2022/2023 Estimates debate, as she responded to questions raised by parliamentarians in relation to recent reports of a rise in amputations and cardiovascular disease.

Earlier this week, Barbados TODAY reported that heart attacks and strokes continued to be a leading cause of death in Barbados, according to the Barbados National Registry 2019 cardiovascular disease report.

In 2019, the country registered some 547 cases of myocardial infarction (MI or heart attack), representing an approximately 28 per cent increase from the 2014 to 2016 period. The case fatality rate was about 32 per cent, compared to between three and 12 per cent internationally.

There were 758 strokes recorded for the review period, representing a steady increase from 631 in 2014. The in-hospital case fatality rate for strokes in 2019 was 37 per cent, up from 28 per cent the prior year.

Last Friday, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey had also reported an increase in the number of people seeking prostheses due mainly to amputation as a result of diabetes. Other top reasons included violence and vehicular accidents.

Dr Arthur Phillips, Senior Medical Officer of Health with responsibility for NCDs, said “The issue of amputation is something we are actively looking at. Our current diabetes guidelines speak to it but we are going to continue to reinforce in terms of training and auditing to ensure that appropriate care is given.”

He said the NCD strategic plan has been updated and should be going to Cabinet “shortly” so a full programme could be rolled out. He pointed out that the NCD fight was an expensive one and the funds allocated over the years were less than ideal.

“This is going to speak to all of the issues we address in terms of risk factor reduction; treatment of NCD, within which the issue of amputation falls; childhood obesity prevention, coordinating with all the various players in the private and public and civil society sectors; resource mobilisation and allocation,” he said.

Tony Harris, Director of the National Cardiology Project, gave the assurance that an “improvement plan” for cardiac care was being developed, adding that data would play a major role in helping to guide future programmes.

He noted that officials were also improving the private and public emergency ambulance service by establishing specialised training relating to care of heart attack patients, as he indicated that too many patients were reaching the hospital “only to be pronounced dead on arrival”.

He also admitted that the pandemic had put a planned public education drive on the back burner, but pledged that it will be rolled out soon. (MM)