BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC -The director of Pan American Health Organization Director (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, has urged small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean to ensure “political leadership at the highest levels” to tackle the issue of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health in the region.
“Our region faces a looming triple threat posed by NCDs, mental health conditions, and climate change. SIDS remains overwhelmingly vulnerable to this triple threat,” Dr. Barbosa told the inaugural three-day SIDS ministerial conference on non-communicable disease (NCD) and mental health, now underway here.
The conference has brought together health ministers and other high-level authorities from SIDS to discuss the scaling-up of multisectoral actions on NCDs and mental health, particularly given the impact of climate change on small island states.
Dr. Barbosa said that the ministerial conference is “key to amplifying the voice and the needs of SIDS,” adding it provides “a unique opportunity to share our learnings and chart a bold path forward.”
He reiterated PAHO’s ongoing commitment to work with the region in supporting the accelerated implementation of NCD and mental health interventions in three priority areas.
He highlighted the need to ensure increased access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment for NCDs, and mental health services must be mainstreamed within the primary health care system.
Dr. Barbosa said 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”.
The PAHO director also called for multisectoral collaboration, including lawmakers, civil society, professional associations, and people with lived experiences, to develop policies that address the underlying socio-economic factors driving NCDs and mental health challenges.
He said countries must build on the Port of Spain Declaration and Samoa Pathway guidance to reinforce NCD risk factor policies, strengthen primary care services for NCDs and mental health, and improve surveillance.
Dr. Barbosa said that while progress has been made towards reducing NCDs and mental health in SIDS, countries are not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of a one-third reduction in NCD premature mortality by 2030.
“This is an ambitious but feasible goal. That’s why this meeting is 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 conference on NCDs and mental health has been convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO, and the government of Barbados.
It is taking place ahead of the UN General Assembly High-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage in September 2023; the conference will also feed into preparatory processes leading to the fourth High-level meeting on NCDs in 2025 and future global summits on mental health.
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