Coalition welcomes debt-for-social swap, calls for inclusive NCD strategy

The Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition has welcomed the government’s planned $1.2bn debt-for-social swap, but is urging broad stakeholder involvement in deciding how savings from the transaction are used to address the country’s non-communicable disease (NCD) crisis.

Coalition chair Nicole Foster said the initiative could provide important support for efforts to combat NCDs and childhood obesity.

Foster, a law lecturer and head of the Law and Health Research Unit at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, told Barbados TODAY that the coalition supports the government’s efforts to secure additional funding for a pressing national challenge.

Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn said the debt restructuring – described as the largest in Barbados’ history – is expected to generate approximately US$150m ($300m) in savings for public-health programmes aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles, improving nutrition and reducing long-term healthcare costs.

The initiative is supported by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.

“The coalition welcomes the government taking steps to find funding and additional support to tackle this serious problem that we have of NCDs and the related challenge of childhood obesity,” Foster said. “We know that this is a critical problem and it needs to be tackled, so we welcome this.”

But transparency and consultation with civil-society organisations involved in NCD prevention and control would be essential, she said.

“NCDs as a whole, you know, it’s a complicated beast,” Foster said. “We want to make sure that we have the benefit of all the perspectives, in particular those CSOs who are on the ground working in the space in terms of NCD prevention and control.”

“We look forward to transparency, to engagement, to involvement, to opportunity to input and have our voices heard and our concerns and interests reflected in whatever is finally agreed, and then to assist with the rollout.”

Foster also warned against relying exclusively on public education to encourage healthier choices, arguing that the conditions in which people make those choices must change as well.

“While public education is absolutely critical, the environment in which they operate is equally critical,” she said. “This is not a situation where you can just educate people and change will happen.”

She said healthier foods must become more affordable and accessible, while people should be supported in developing practical skills, including healthier cooking.

“You have to help them understand how to cook healthier and all those things, but then we also want to make sure that the options that are available to them are better and more affordable.”

Greater support for domestic agricultural production should also form part of the response, Foster added, given its potential to lower the cost of nutritious food.

The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) also backed the government’s focus on the NCD crisis.

In a statement to Barbados TODAY, BAMP said it was “aware of and concerned about the severity and long-term implications for national well-being”.

It recommended an integrated national response including education, counselling, exercise, affordable healthy food, timely access to quality healthcare, and lifestyle changes at both community and personal levels.

“BAMP remains willing and able to engage in all efforts to improve the well-being of the people of our nation,” the association said.

(SB)