More requests for prostheses

An alarm is being raised over an increasing number of people seeking artificial body parts due mainly to diabetes, violence and vehicular accidents.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Kirk Humphrey said the growing number of individuals seeking prostheses was putting added pressure on Government’s strained finances.

He made the comments on Friday as he indicated his intention to do more to assist vulnerable groups across the island. He was speaking in Parliament as debate continued on the Estimates for 2022/2023.

During his opening statement, Humphrey pointed to work being done by the departments that fall within his ministry, as he lauded government workers for their diligence over the years.

In relation to the National Disabilities Unit, he said he was pleased that the agency continued to do “very good work”, but said “I feel as though our society is not yet fully in-tune with a fully accessible Barbados and what that means.

“So I have asked for a larger conversation, working with the council to make sure that the disabled community is well treated to in Barbados,” said Humphrey.

“We should also tell you that we have seen an increase in the number of prostheses being offered by the ministry. Last year there were 46 and thus far there are 62 prostheses and these are caused by NCDs (non-communicable diseases). There has been an increase in violence such as gunshots, and then the third cause relates to vehicular accidents,” he reported.

“We will continue to look at this, but the issues of NCDs and violence are certainly some things we must speak to very seriously as we go forward,” he said.

Humphrey also put the Child Care Board on notice that it could see an increase in reports of child abuse in the coming months as children start to share experiences of what they endured during the height of the pandemic.

Pointing to recent reports of an increase in cases of child neglect, Humphrey said: “It has been my advice that as children return to school and begin to talk with each other and share stories we could also hear of increasing stories of abuse as children report to other children some of the incidents in their lives. So we are prepared for that going forward.”

The minister promised that as changes are made within the ministry to amalgamate all the social services, strong emphasis will be placed on empowering the most vulnerable groups.

“I feel as we move the ministry forward our focus on making the disabled, the elderly, persons who are otherwise marginalised, the lower socioeconomic bracket, persons who may be affected by HIV and AIDS, persons to whom this ministry has a responsibility, that we also have to look not only at social protection but give true meaning and expression to the idea of empowerment and what it will mean for all,” said Humphrey.

“It is in this regard that we will look at our social policies and hopefully be able to say in the next year we have brought our policies and our programmes closer to the people and that we have also had a focus on empowerment,” he said.

Stressing the need for greater focus on development of people, Humphrey said it was important that they were empowered.

Indicating that his ministry continued to “deal with” people affected by Hurricane Elsa, Humphrey said there were now 280 people in accommodation and 39 properties being used.

“We have about 46 or so persons who are now outstanding. To deal with these we will need also to budget for that in the coming financial year,” he said.

Further pointing to the work of his ministry over the past two years, Humphrey noted that in 2020 his ministry prepared about 4,000 care packages, costing about $350,000 while in 2021 there were about 60,000 care packages, costing about $8.6 million. (MM)