— says 30 minutes of daily exercise can help tackle chronic diseases

MINISTER of Health Dr Frank Anthony has urged Guyanese to embrace more active lifestyles, noting that regular exercise can play a major role in preventing or delaying the onset of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs).
The minister made the appeal on Saturday as the Ministry of Health hosted its annual Caribbean Wellness Day Walk at the Guyana Friendship Park-Main Square in Region Three.
The event was held under the theme, “Our Mind. Our Body. Our Wellness—Empowering Caribbean Youth,” with the ministry partnering with Stride 592 for the third consecutive year.
Delivering remarks, Anthony said Caribbean Wellness Day provides an important opportunity to focus attention on chronic diseases, including diabetes and hypertension.
“As you know, in our country, we have a lot of people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and many other diseases that we can either prevent or we can delay their onset, and we believe strongly that if we get people to live a more active lifestyle, that we can change all of this,” he said.
Anthony described the walk as symbolic, but expressed hope that activities of this nature would encourage more Guyanese to make physical activities part of their daily lives.
He stressed that exercising for at least half an hour each day could make a “big difference” to a person’s health.
Pointing to Guyana’s development and the opportunities being created, the minister said maintaining good health is essential for citizens to enjoy the country’s progress.
“Our life expectancy now is around 70, and what we want is that when we look at life expectancy, we see that women are at 72, men are at 67. So, we need to change that,” Anthony said.
He also noted that attitudes towards exercise are changing, with more Guyanese embracing active lifestyles and participating in fitness activities regularly.
In 2007, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government adopted the landmark Declaration of Port of Spain to address the growing burden of NCDs across the region. The second Saturday in September was subsequently designated Caribbean Wellness Day.
In Guyana, the Ministry of Health established its Disease Control/Non-Communicable Diseases programme in 2021 to strengthen efforts to prevent, detect, control and treat NCDs and address mental health-related issues.
Across the Caribbean and Latin America, NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes remain major health concerns, with risk factors including physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol and tobacco, stress and obesity.