Spencer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Minister of Health Rudyard Spencer has called for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members to put health care at the forefront of development objectives, in light of the regions common vulnerabilities in finance, public health and climate change.

"We must begin to view health as a resource of fundamental strategic importance to the survival of the region. When placed within the context of a fundamental right, it becomes incumbent upon our governments to remove the impediments to access to health care," Spencer said.

"Suddenly, old arguments and traditional stereotypes that have divided us as a region, our language of prejudice and our discourse of differences are no longer relevant. We are confronted with a harsh but humbling reality, we are in the same boat."

The minister was addressing the 18th meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) arm of CARICOM, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, St James, on Wednesday. The two-day conference is being held under the theme 'Winds of change: Education and Health collaborating to advance Human and Social Development'.

He said the conference was timely as it was occurring during two of the greatest challenges to the social landscape - the global recession and H1N1 epidemic (swine flu).

Improve efficiency

Spencer also recommended that knowledge and skills pertaining to healthy lifestyles be entrenched in the syllabuses and assessments of all regional examinations. He said CARICOM should seek the support of the international community to advance a "pro-poor policy agenda in health and education".

The minister said there was a need for the region to reorganise to improve efficiency in evidence-based policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, and in the use of appropriate technologies to reduce cost and improve access to health care.

"The peoples of the region are depending on us. COHSOD needs to secure the unrelenting commitment and actions of our political leaders in demolishing the social, political and economic constructs of the region that keep our peoples in social, political and economic bondage," he said.

The main areas of focus are the finalising of proposals for the establishment of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the follow-up to the 2007 Port-of-Spain Declaration on the fight against Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Other areas of focus are the preparation for the second annual CARICOM Wellness Day on September 12; the implementation of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AID Caribbean Regional Strategic Plan for HIV; joint education and health initiatives to fight NCDs and HIV; a Report on Strengthening the Education Sector Response to Health; healthy lifestyles; promoting behaviour change and risk reduction and the revised Regional Framework of Action for Children.

claudia.gardner@gleanerjm.com