YESTERDAY we commemorated Caribbean Wellness Day 2019, where countries across the Region focused on heightening awareness and implementing health promotion activities to improve the quality of life of the ageing population with the theme, ‘Healthy Ageing Starts Now’.

Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD), which was termed a ‘wellness revolution’, was initiated by CARICOM and aimed at heightening the awareness of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and accelerating the action needed to prevent and control them. Caribbean Wellness Day falls within the ambit of the Declaration of Port of Spain, which, in 2007, sought unity from member states to stop the epidemic of Chronic Non-C0mmunicable Diseases.

Over the past decade, the fight to combat non-communicable diseases has intensified since they account for over 70 per cent of all deaths in Guyana. Sadly, too many of our citizens are affected by diabetes, cancers, heart diseases and chronic respiratory diseases, thereby impressing the need for a more aggressive campaign to impact on the cross-cutting, modifiable risk factors associated with the NCDs.

Interventions relating to the abuse of alcohol, the harmful use of tobacco and its products, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, have become top priority in order to reduce these risk factors which, cumulatively and separately, are deterrents to healthy lives and general well-being.

The Ministry of Public Health recognises the need to educate our children from an early age about the importance of maintaining healthy bodies and minds. In fact, the Ministry of Public Health, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, has initiated health promotion programmers focusing on sensitising students about the need to eat healthy by lessening the sugary substances in their meals, increasing the intake of water, and encouraging their parents and guardians to prepare balanced meals.

The Government of Guyana continues with its school feeding programme. Of course, the curriculum places much emphasis on physical well-being, ensuring that students are engaged in physical exercise as well as a variety of sports and games. We believe that this awareness message of healthy bodies and minds can be disseminated from within the school environment to the parents and guardians within the various communities. Our youths must help spread the message of adopting healthy lifestyles to their immediate family in order to bring about desirable health outcomes for our population.

At the other end of the spectrum is our elderly, whom we know tend to be affected by non-communicable diseases as they age. Therefore, it is imperative that we intensify the message, encouraging them to engage in healthy lifestyle practices in order to lower their chances of developing NCDS. Their wellbeing must be encouraged in this cycle of ageing, so the conversation must focus on developing healthy behaviours which will include regular exercise, healthy eating habits, regular health check-ups, proper use of medication and the overarching issues of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Further, as we address our overall wellness, we cannot divorce mental well-being. In fact, this constitutes one of the key areas of our health; we must promote the mental well-being of all where we can learn, work, play and listen to each other. In other words, as we speak about well-being, we cannot forget mental health – there is no balanced health without mental health.
Today’s commemoration of Wellness Day must acknowledge and give support to people with mental disorders. Too many individuals are closeted through fear of stigma and we must first and foremost encourage persons to access the treatment they need to lead healthy productive lives. We must help our patients build coping skills to understand and manage mental health issues.

In a nutshell, as we celebrate, let our message be well-intentioned for all, let us encourage and engage in this wellness campaign. Our conversations must be about mental well-being, physical activity, changing unhealthy eating habits and reducing or eliminating our alcohol and tobacco use.

We must endeavor to enhance our quality of life so that in later years we can reap the benefits of today’s sacrifices.