Bridgetown, Barbados, Wednesday 14 June 2023 (PAHO) – The Pan American Health Organization Director (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, has urged small island creating states (SIDS) of the Caribbean to make sure “political leadership at the highest levels” with a view to deal with the difficulty of non-communicable illnesses (NCDs) and psychological well being within the Region.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, “our region faces a looming triple threat posed by NCDs, mental health conditions and climate change. SIDS remain overwhelmingly vulnerable to this triple threat,” Dr. Barbosa stated on the opening ceremony of the SIDS ministerial convention on NCDs and psychological well being in Bridgetown, Barbados, in the present day.

The ministerial convention is “key to amplify the voice and the needs of SIDS,” the PAHO Director added, offering “a unique opportunity to share our learnings and chart a bold path forward.”

During his intervention, Dr. Barbosa reiterated PAHO’s ongoing dedication to work with the area in supporting the accelerated implementation of NCD and psychological well being interventions in three precedence areas:

Firstly, the PAHO Director highlighted that to make sure elevated entry to screening, analysis and therapy for NCDs and psychological well being, companies should be mainstreamed throughout the major well being care system.

This means “reorienting our health systems towards community-based care. And it means reducing the geographic, financial, and knowledge barriers to ensuring more people can appropriately manage their chronic conditions,” he stated.

Secondly, the Director known as for multisectoral collaboration together with lawmakers, civil society, skilled associations and folks with lived experiences, to develop insurance policies that handle the underlying socio-economic elements driving NCDs and psychological well being challenges.

Finally, international locations should construct on the steerage offered within the Port of Spain Declaration and Samoa Pathway, to bolster NCD danger issue insurance policies, strengthen major care companies for NCDs and psychological well being, and enhance surveillance, Dr. Barbosa added.

The PAHO Director underscored that whereas progress has been made in the direction of decreasing NCDs and psychological well being in SIDS, international locations usually are not on observe to succeed in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of a one-third discount in NCD untimely mortality by 2030.

“This is an ambitious, but feasible goal. That’s why this meeting is above all an invitation for us to embrace this agenda with all our might and go above and beyond what we’ve done up to now.”

The SIDS ministerial convention on NCDs and psychological well being, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO and the Government of Barbados, will happen from 14-16 June, in Barbados.

Taking place forward of the UN General Assembly High-level assembly on Universal Health Coverage in September 2023, the convention can even feed into preparatory processes resulting in the fourth High-level assembly on NCDs in 2025 and to future world summits on psychological well being.