Health Minister, John Boyce is of the view that churches possess many of the assets that are necessary for mounting successful community-based health programmes.
“The most obvious asset is the focus on the spiritual dimension which works together with the physical, mental and social dimensions to contribute to our overall health and well-being,” he noted during the official launch of the ‘Barbados Better Health Weekend’, hosted by the Breath of Life Seventh Day Adventist Church in Whitehall, St Michael on Friday night.
“Even though there is some debate about the influence of the Church, I do believe that churches are still able to exercise some degree of influence on the family and therefore have the ability to shape behaviours that can lead to healthy lifestyle choices.”
Minister Boyce also expressed that the need for community based institutions to contribute to improvement in health and the adoption of healthy lifestyles behaviours is as vital as ever.
He recalled that the Barbados Risk Factor Survey 2007 reported that 14.4 per cent of adults are living with diabetes; 29 per cent have hypertension, and 55 per cent of adult men and 74 per cent of adult women are overweight or obese.
“Simply put, we are eating too much of the wrong foods and we are not getting enough exercise,” Boyce stressed.“We are facing a well-defined problem. One that is not simple, but is associated with a complex array of factors related to our lifestyles and the choices we make every day. In today’s fast-paced world, I think that we can conclude that fast food is here to stay. So one of the challenges that confronts us will be to make healthy food options more widely available,” he said.
In light of his comments, Boyce was pleased to announce that in coming weeks the Health Promotion Unit of the Ministry of Health will be launching a Toolkit for Faith Based Organisations that will provide guidance for planning community based healthy lifestyle activities, such as health fairs, lectures and screening programmes.
Tobacco control
He further acknowledged that tobacco control is an issue of high priority within the congregation and therefore assured them that the Ministry of Health will continue to enforce the ban on smoking in public places legislation, as well as remain engaged in efforts to educate the public about tobacco control.
In addition, Minister Boyce revealed that the Ministry is preparing the necessary documentation to seek approval for Barbados to adopt the CARICOM Standard on Packaging and Labelling of Tobacco Products, which calls for pictorial warnings on packages of tobacco products.
“The challenge of bringing about behaviour change to address the lifestyle diseases is not for the Ministry of Health alone. The factors that influence these diseases are far too complex to be tackled without the input and resources of partners in civil society, the private sector and the other government sectors,” he stated. (TL)
