In the wake of the call by Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh for parents to better enable children’s health by introducing more physical activity into their lives comes the news the Caribbean has the highest mortality rates from non-communicable diseases in the world. It gets even worse – the Caribbean also has the highest premature mortality rate, with three out of four people dying from NCDs.
This was revealed last week in Trinidad and Tobago by Dr Edwin Bolastig, Adviser on Health Systems and Services at PAHO/WHO. He was speaking at the eighth Caribbean Association of Oncology and Haematology in Port-of-Spain.
Bolastig noted that 77 percent of all the 39,460 deaths in the Caribbean in 2012 were caused by NCDs, with 40 percent of these deaths premature. Among these deaths, 23 percent were from malignant cancerous tumours. Since cancer is an NCD, it has the same risk factors as other illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Bolastig noted one third of cancer cases could be prevented through reduction of the key risk factors as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and the harmful use of alcohol. He added cancer was the second leading cause of death in the Americas, responsible for 1.3 million deaths in 2012, of which 47 percent occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Said Bolastig: “The number of cancer deaths in the Americas is expected to almost double by 2030 to 2.1 million deaths... That is why your oncology sector has a very big role to play when it comes to addressing NCD issues. If we impact on the behaviour that is causing these lifestyle diseases, we are able to prevent these NCDs from becoming the burden that it is now and becoming much more so in the coming years.”
The global figures were not reassuring either, with Bolastig indicating in 2014 that 14 million people between the ages 30 to 69 died from NCDs. These were preventable deaths, Bolastig noted, adding: “These are the premature deaths that really have an impact on countries and global development. That is why NCDs are such a major issue when it comes to the sustainable development goals.”
That the rhetoric is shifting into measurable action by the Trinidad and Tobago government is reassuring. Health Minister Deyalsingh’s call to parents to enable children with more physical activity by getting them away from sedentary lifestyles in front of screens is commendable. This nation is also moving in a positive direction with the local soft drink manufacturers on board with voluntary reduction of the sugar content in their products in the last year, and with the government banning soft drink and juices with added sugar in schools.
Deyalsingh is keeping a concerned eye on the future health of nationals: “An obese, diabetic child will give you an obese, diabetic adolescent, which will give you an obese, diabetic adult.” He also notes that according to an IDB study, the economic burden of NCDs to Trinidad and Tobago is around (TT) $8.7 billion annually – diabetes alone costs the government $3.5 billion. Said Deyalsingh: “Do you know what a government can do with $8.7 billion if we did not have to spend it on treating NCDs? And that represents about five percent of Gross Domestic Product.”
Last week Bolastig advised the private sector in Trinidad and Tobago to support national authorities in strengthening the health care system and expanding quality service coverage, especially through primary health care to improve NCD prevention and control. He further advised these bodies to contribute to the efforts to improve access to affordable, safe, effective and quality medicines and diagnostics for NCDs.
While the news regarding NCDs is not reassuring for the Caribbean, Bolastig’s advice, and the steps being taken in Trinidad and Tobago are directions worthy of emulation by the rest of the Caribbean region.