Obesity, hypertension leading causes of death in Caribbean - PAHO

Obesity, hypertension leading causes of death in Caribbean – PAHO

Dec 18, 2011 News

Dr Ernest Pate, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Caribbean Programme Coordinator is calling on CARICOM Heads of Government to “move” their commitment from principle to practice, noting that adequate resources were an imperative to fighting non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Dr Pate also asserted that the Caribbean Community must be more data driven in the prevention and treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The PAHO official was delivering the feature address at the second Annual Conference of NCDs Focal Points and Chief Medical Officers in Port-of Spain Trinidad and Tobago last Sunday.
The three-day conference was organized by CARICOM in collaboration with the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The conference was convened to discuss the implications for the Caribbean of the outcome of the United Nations High Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs held in New York on September 19-20, and to examine the progress and challenges in key components of the Port-of-Spain Declaration, and outline priority actions and relevant support necessary to implement those actions.
Dr Pate singled out two major challenges – financial resources and insufficient data – which he stated were sticking points in Government’s efforts to combat the diseases. Many countries, he explained, did not have accurate mortality and surveillance data on NCDs and consequently, could not do proper planning.
To date, lifestyle related diseases such as heart diseases, respiratory illnesses, cancer, diabetes, and risk factors such as obesity and high blood pressure are the leading causes of death in the Caribbean and account for 60-70 percent of deaths globally. There is a perception that NCDs are more concentrated in higher income countries, but Dr Pate argued that the data did not support that perception.
On the contrary, the data pointed to an increase in the incidence of NCDs in middle and low income countries. This, he explained, required a review of the economic costs of this burden to include “out-of-pocket costs” which were not borne or measured by governments. Those costs, Dr Pate warned, were so exorbitant that they could drive citizens and countries to poverty.
The PAHO Caribbean Programme Coordinator acknowledged that the Caribbean had made significant inroads in fighting NCDs but argued that more interventions needed to be made at the point of prevention. For this to happen, he added, Caribbean governments must make tangible commitments to supporting the prevention and treatment programs including primary health care services, which he stated needed re-vamping.
“If those resources are not in place then we are unable to tackle the epidemic. Our plans need to be supported by financial sources,” Dr Pate stressed, adding that government financing for NCD initiatives must be “topped-up” by the private sector and International Development Partner (IDP) resources.
In addition, Dr Pate firmly believes that there is a need for a comprehensive approach to tackling NCDs; and noted that successes were reported in countries such as Finland where a comprehensive approach had been adopted.
In moving forward, Dr Pate was of the opinion that the Community’s priorities must of necessity include translating policies into action, increasing funding to keep pace with the epidemic; increasing advocacy and awareness especially among policy makers; adopting a comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach; strengthening surveillance and monitoring thus providing evidence for policymakers and highlighting the impact of NCDs on development.

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Obesity, hypertension leading causes of death in Caribbean – PAHO

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