Good morning.
Permit me to extend my congratulations to the Minister of Health of Cyprus upon his election to the Presidency of this august body and to assure him and the rest of the World Health Assembly the full support and cooperation of my Delegation. We are confident that his experience and skill will do much to secure an impactful outcome to our work. Trinidad and Tobago is honoured to have been elected as Vice-President to represent the Americas in this the 64th Assembly, and I congratulate my fellow Vice Presidents and members of the General Committee on their appointments.
The context in which this meeting is being convened is one of virtual crisis, the crisis of Non-communicable Diseases, the prevalence of which constitutes a challenge for all countries, Developed and Developing alike, though with the most severe impact being felt by poor and vulnerable populations. This must be curtailed with the urgency it thus demands.
In the Caribbean, non-communicable diseases are major contributors to overall mortality and morbidity with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, accounting for nearly half of all deaths of persons under the age of 70, and for two out of three deaths overall in our region. Caribbean governments, observing the growing prevalence of these diseases and their financial and other impacts on the healthcare system, recognized very early the need for a coordinated regional strategy to address the burden of NCDs. In 2007, I am proud to say on the initiative of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, it was therefore decided to convene a meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community to develop a Plan of Action to address this issue.
Mr. Vice President, The advocacy that began in the Caribbean, has been replicated in other regions of the global health system and will culminate this September in the hosting of the High Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. The CARICOM region is pleased to have spearheaded this recognition of the necessity to develop policies and protocols to ensure the survivability of our world population.
For its part, Trinidad and Tobago felt however that action on the prevention side should not be delayed. Our Government therefore established the National Advisory Committee on NCDs to guide strategic interventions in the realm of prevention and control.
We also ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and, in 2009, the passage of the Tobacco Control Act, instituting comprehensive measures to ban smoking in public areas and to significantly limit the marketing and sale of tobacco products, especially to children. This Act has been recognised as a template of model legislation.
A recent research study conducted by a local university, which tested children in the primary school system for diabetes, revealed the existence of both Type-I and Type-II diabetes previously undiagnosed in that cohort. The Government has therefore taken a strategic decision to expand the scope of that study so as to establish a national baseline to allow for an appropriate response based on evidence.
Another study which examined the obesity trends in primary schools revealed that between the ages of 4 to 6 years, there was a15% increase in obesity, with over 20% of all youth in the study overweight, trending towards obesity. Given these facts, the Ministry of Health has immediately begun dialogue with the Ministry of Education, as well as the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs to facilitate the expansion of physical activity and sport, and in this regard, is currently examining the feasibility of establishing a gym in each public school.
Mr. Vice President, You will realise that a great deal of attention is being devoted in Trinidad and Tobago to our nation’s youth. Please note that the adult population is not being overlooked as our Government has taken measures through public education and outreach programmes to educate the general population that through lifestyle changes they can prevent or delay the onset of NCDs. However, part of our logic of focusing on our nation’s youth is to encourage that behavioural change at the critical formative life stages and also, to recognize the fact that the youth themselves, armed with proper information, become the change agents that empower their parents, and therefore effect change in the adult population and WILL result in a culture of change towards healthy lifestyles.
Focus is also on the area of control and treatment via a Public-Private partnership involving over 350 pharmacies across the nation as dispensaries; the Government adopted the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme, which delivers pharmaceutical benefits, cost-free, to all chronic disease patients. In addition, the Government has intervened at the point of diagnosis and instituted free chronic disease clinics, on a walk-in basis, in all primary health centres, with a particular emphasis on the screening and management of diabetes and hypertension. Also an innovative system to screen for certain cancers, involving a strategic partnership between the State, the Private Sector and the NGO community has proven extremely effective and is being expanded.
Trinidad and Tobago’s engagement on NCDs is thus all-encompassing, because we feel a great sense of urgency in making real progress on the ground, where it matters; in doing the interventions that not only save lives but also improve the quality of life of those affected. We fully agree that prevention and control of NCDs requires leadership, at all levels, and the adoption of a range of measures, including addressing the social determinants of health and resulting inequities. It was for this reason that during the Regional High-Level Consultation of the Americas on NCDs and Obesity in Mexico earlier this year, Trinidad and Tobago actively promoted and supported the adoption of a Joint Latin-American and Caribbean position on NCDs which addressed, inter alia, the social determinants of chronic disease and obesity.
It would be remiss of us, if we did not publicly acknowledge and thank PAHO for all the assistance and support it has given and continues to provide to our nation.
Mr. Vice President, inarguably, significant progress has been made in the fight against NCDs but the real work of mitigation, treatment and management, through the promotion and adoption of healthy lifestyles is only just beginning. We must individually and collectively, as the international community, remain steadfast in our commitment to it, as the road ahead is not likely to be an easy one, as to be most effective, it will require a partnership among Governments, Industry and Civil Society. We have already begun the process to implement this in Trinidad and Tobago and will formally launch in June 2011, a Cabinet-appointed Partners Forum for Action on NCDs involving Government, Civil Society and the Private Sector, which includes the various Chambers of Commerce.
In this context, my delegation fully endorses the Moscow Declaration, adopted at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non communicable Disease Control and, in that regard, supports without reservation the call for the WHO to develop a comprehensive global monitoring framework on NCDs.
Let us Mr. Vice President, as the international community commit our best endeavours to showing global leadership through mobilizing the necessary coordinated action to solve the solvable problem of NCDs.
Mr. Vice President, I thank you.
