NCDs responsible for 78% of Guyana’s mortality
–Wellness Warriors undergoing training to make an impact on situation

WITH non-communicable diseases (NCDs) being identified as an emerging public health threat issue, the Government of Guyana is working vigorously to battle this , and the Ministry of Health’s  Wellness Warriors is one aspect to aid in the fight.

Speaking at the launch of a five-day training exercise for the Wellness Warriors, which commenced Monday at Ramphal House, Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran said, “A few years ago we celebrated the anniversary of the Medex Training programme. At that celebration, we had a fun day, and I decided that there is too much work and no exercise. I challenged the medex who were gathered there to have a Health and Wellness club, thus the Wellness Warriors.”
Cardiovascular diseases account worldwide for most NCD deaths or 17.3 million people annually, followed by cancers (7.6 million), respiratory diseases (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million1). These four groups of diseases account for around 80% of all NCD deaths.
Minister Ramsaran said, “Over the past seven years, many countries and international organisations have identified the epidemic of NCDs as the most serious emerging public health threat.”
He added that international organisations recognise that the four categories of NCDs are re-enforced by certain things people do or don’t do in their daily lives. “In other words, they are saying that these four categories are difficult for us to change because of factors such as age and ethnicity.”
Cigarette smoking and second hand smoking, alcohol abuse, wrong foods (poor diet), too much salt (which the Minister referred to as white death) and lack of exercise are the factors accountable for the rapid increase in NCDs.
He said as civilisation further advances, these diseases are becoming more prevalent. With education, social support groups and other aspects, the Minister said health and wellness can be promoted by addressing these modifiable practices.
The first advanced groups of Wellness Warriors will be walked through the theory of these four categories of risk factors for NCDs.
He also addressed the reshaping of the market to address healthy foods. He looked at the possibility of intervening in school canteens to determine a stricter and more regulated diet for children and to add an environmental component, with foods placed in a recyclable and bi-degradable box.
“We hope to get a massive army of people who know to perform basic tasks, such as pressure and sugar testing in every part of the society. Also, they will have a strong health literacy component,” the Minister explained.
He reiterated the recognised need for the creation of a national or presidential commission on NCDs. He said it was proposed that the commission be patterned after the same module used to fight the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, which is now almost a chronic disease. He added that with the conquest or suppression of HIV/AIDS, many more people that would have died from the virus are now living and may be suffering from chronic diseases.
He explained that a coordinator of NCDs has been appointed and a small NCD unit will be established in the Ministry of Health.
Also, the issue of teenage pregnancy will be targeted, along with promoting healthy choices and health literacy in schools by the Wellness Warriors. On September 13, a Wellness Camp will be held at the Square of the Revolution.
Dr Kavita Singh, Coordinator, Chronic Diseases Department, said participants in the Wellness Warriors programme are expected to take up a charge for society. She said NCDs can be prevented and controlled even though some of them are not curable. “It so happens that most of the population is unaware that they are at risk of developing these diseases, and this is where the Wellness Warriors come in. Your job is to be able to go out in the communities in which you live after you would have completed training, and impart the knowledge and experience you would have gained,” Singh told the participants.
Caribbean Wellness Day will be celebrated on September 12, with the launch of the Presidential Commission on NCDs, at which Dr. Carissa Etienne of the Pan American Health Organisation will be present.

(GINA)