Dr Carissa F Etienne
ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Dr Carissa Etienne has warned that Dominica is sitting on an erupting volcano with regards to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and warned authorities to move quickly to deal with a possible “tsunami of chronic diseases”.
“We have some startling statistics in Dominica. For every three persons, one has high blood pressure. For every five persons in Dominica, one has diabetes. For every four persons in Dominica, one has high cholesterol. For every two people in Dominica, one is overweight or obese,” said the Dominican-born Dr Etienne.
“We already have all of the risk factors present for chronic diseases,” she said, telling reporters that she met with the government and informed the ministers “that we are sitting on a volcano that has started erupting, but the huge eruption is yet to come so we are on a tsunami of chronic diseases.
“Very often individuals must change their lifestyles, and that is true. But what is more true is that together we have the responsibility to ensure an enabling environment. An environment within which people can live healthy lifestyles, an environment where their foods do not contain high salt levels or high sugar levels or high trans-fat levels, that we have possibility for physical activities in our communities and our schools.”
She urged the government to consider “legislation and taxation that seeks to limit or stop the use of tobacco and the excessive use of alcohol.
“I had the opportunity to speak to Cabinet and I spoke about the responsibility of government for passing the legislation and the taxation that will make the environment a more enabling environment, I spoke about the necessity for schools to continue to ensure that physical activity is present throughout the curriculum at all ages but we also need to speak to communities,” she said.
“That we have rules and legislation against the excessive use of alcohol, against the sale of alcohol to minors, for tobacco as well, and we have those laws that are enforced. So it’s not enough to have the laws on the books, we have to ensure that they are enforced. There needs to be a movement across all sections of the society,” she added.
Health Minister Dr Kenneth Darroux told reporters that the authorities are aware of the alarming statistics and “that’s why we concentrate on prevention, at the primary care level.
But he acknowledged that Dominica has “lagged a bit” in terms of implement some of the mentioned measures.
“I think slowly but surely cabinet, as an entity, is beginning to understand the linkages or the cohesion that needs to exist as it pertains to health care,” he said.