Ishmael wants food industry to help solve NCD crisis
Barbados has the size to solve its own health crisis of noncommunicable diseases, and the food industry is being called on to help make it happen. That was the central message from Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Davidson Ishmael, as he addressed the opening of an Engagement With The Food […] The post Ishmael wants food industry to help solve NCD crisis appeared first on nationnews.com.
Black News 
Barbados has the size to solve its own health crisis of noncommunicable diseases, and the food industry is being called on to help make it happen.
That was the central message from Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Davidson Ishmael, as he addressed the opening of an Engagement With The Food Industry For Healthier Food Environments held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Monday.
“I have a vision that this small island will be the healthiest nation on earth,” he told the gathering of food industry leaders, academics, policymakers, civil society representatives and health officials. “We are small enough that we can do it – 166 square miles,” he stated.
The minister made it clear that the day was not about lectures or ultimatums, but frank, honest dialogue. He called on industry players to engage genuinely, noting that reformulating products to be healthier was not just a public health imperative, but it made good business sense too.
“If we can take those dollars, and instead of treating those diseases, we can invest them in your businesses and your industry to give you more market share to export your products, your business does better, your country does better and we are all doing better,” he said.
Ishmael also urged organisations present to introduce or strengthen wellness programmes for their own employees, whether through health screenings, active breaks or other initiatives, he described as simple and cost-effective.
Acting senior medical officer of health for noncommunicable diseases, Dr Kimberly Phillips, painted a sobering picture of where Barbados currently stands, noting that diabetes and hypertension have remained stubbornly entrenched at over 20 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, for the past four decades.
“When it comes to the creeping inundation of multiple risk factors and chronic non-communicable diseases, it will appear that we are destined to fail,” she said, “but laying down and playing dead is not what we are here to do.” (DDS)
The post Ishmael wants food industry to help solve NCD crisis appeared first on nationnews.com.
