Health authorities throughout the Americas recently approved a new strategy that seeks a 25 per cent reduction by 2025 in deaths from Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases.
Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever, says he supports the Americas strategy to reduce NCDs, and that is why I have encouraged the "Get Checked" campaign.
"We must be proactive with our health and not just reactive. We don’t have to wait until one gets a heart attack to start eating healthy and exercising. We should all start today to be conscious of our health and improve it," Minister De Weever said on Monday.
Minister De Weever encourages the entire community to get regular check-ups as part of preventative care which would identify the possible onset of such challenges in the four diseases mentioned earlier.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), meeting the 25 per cent target which was approved by the World Health Assembly earlier this year, would save an estimated three million lives in the Western Hemisphere.
NCDs such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory disease share several common risk factors, particularly tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol.
In the Americas, three of four people suffer from one of these diseases, and some 4.45 million die each year from NCDs, representing 75 per cent of all deaths. Of these deaths, 1.5 million occur before age 70. NCDs also account for the largest share of avoidable healthcare costs.