Mrs. Omayra. V. E. Leeflang
Saturday, 9/26/2009
Wellness Focus seminar Love that Body, Live life healthy
Ladies and gentlemen,
Moving from health cure to healthcare
On the 13th of September this year Wellness day was introduced in Curacao and Sint Martin, with the slogan; Love that body, Move your act. This Wellnesday was introduced by ministerial decree and will be observed yearly on the second Sunday of September.
The observance of Antilleans Wellness day is in cooperation with the Caribbean Wellness Day on the second Saturday in September. It was one of 15 decisions made by CARICOM Heads of Government at the Regional Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 15th of September 2007. The Summit was convened to address the social and economic burdens of chronic NCDs on the Region. Those decisions formed the basis of the Declaration of Port-of-Spain on NCDs.
Looking at the data colleted by PAHO we see that the 5 mayor causes of death are NCDs:
1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Diabetes
4. Stroke
5. Injuries
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6. HIV/AIDS is also a mayor cause of death but takes the 6th place.
The top causes of death are also the mayor causes of death for woman in the Caribbean.
We can reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through the promotion of comprehensive and integrated preventive and control strategies at the individual, family, community, national and regional levels and through cooperation of programs, partnerships and policies supported by governments, the private sector, the media, civil society organizations, the kingdom of the Netherlands and relevant regional and international partners.
As minister of Health I therefore highly recommend the initiative of Manrique Caprilles to organize this Wellness Focus Seminar.
I can assure you that this is an investment in the wealth of the nation, because the wealth of the nation depends on the health of the nation.
Healthy people bring down the cost of health care, produce more, increase economic growth and feel better about themselves.
Governments have a responsibility to promote a culture of wellness and as I explained in the beginning, that by introducing the national wellness day we took up that challenge. But Governments can never reach the goals alone.
A prominent role must be played by health centered non-governmental organizations, major faith-based organizations, sports clubs, private sector and companies marketing health care products.
An other important aspect is the sustainability of the Wellness Focus. The purpose of the wellness focus is disease prevention. But we will only be able to harvest this fruit if we are able to produce a culture of wellness.
I believe that this seminar is as a very good platform to announce my plans to promote a wellness revolution. And I make a call this morning to you all to be part of the coalition that has to lead this revolution.
The Wellness coalition must be an organization of government departments, service and product suppliers, health care professionals, faith based organizations, scientists, fitness providers, businesspeople, food manufacturers, doctors and others, focused on disease prevention.
As minister of health I have a very specific interest in this wellness revolution and that is that Wellness as the result of disease prevention is the only viable solutions to the rising healthcare costs that threatens the existence of health care insurance.
We must understand that we are in the business of healthcare and not health cure
We must act as health care providers instead of health cure providers
We must change our focus and become health care promoters
So I guarantee you that you will hear more from me on this topic of wellness and I wish you all a fruitful wellness seminar and convey my gratefulness and congratulations.
NEWS ARTICLE TAKEN FROM THE MINISTER’S FACEBOOK PAGE