Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran met this week with regional health officers and other stakeholders to draft the 2013-2020 health strategy titled ‘Health Vision 2020’ which will see lifestyle diseases being the major focus.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release this second biennial meeting follows closely on the heels of a consultation convened with top officials in the health sector and supporting agencies. In his address Ramsaran, said the strategy will utilise the skills available across different sectors to meet its goals. It will tap into strategies used in the education and local government ministries, for example the Ministry of Education’s Canteen Policy which was crafted with input from the health ministry.
Ramsaran told the meeting that the impact of Non-Communicable Diseases, the so-called lifestyle diseases such as heart ailments, hypertension and diabetes, on development is recognised globally. He recalled that a few years ago HIV/AIDS was thefocus issue whereas today it is NCDs; however, he noted that an intense response in the battle against HIV/AIDS has netted many returns and no less of a result is expected in the fight against NCDs.
Permanent Secretary Leslie Cadogan said the plan brings into focus the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Input from the regional health authorities is important since they are the ones who engage with the citizens in their respective regions, he noted. Cadogan said the health ministry recognises that it cannot make all the decisions regarding the plan alone, and this meeting provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to contribute.
Developmental concept
PAHO/WHO Representa-tive Dr Adrianus Vlugman noted that Phase 1 of the project covers the next three years, and the name change from National Health Strategy to Health Vision 2020 reflects the realisation that health is a broad developmental concept which is impacted upon by drivers beyond the directive of the health ministry.
He said the strategy is being developed through broad consultations with health sector professionals, private sector, development partners and other ministries and it will address ethnicity and culture, gender specific issues and gender-based violence.
“The implementation of the strategy will take a bottom-up approach with a three-year consolidation period which focuses on improving access to quality of service among the marginalised and hinterland communities. Vision 2020 will be a road map that will provide strategic direction in the delivery of health services,” Dr Vlugman said. The first stakeholder consultation was held in October at Baganara.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud made the first presentation regarding the 2020 Plan.
The strategy targets increased life expectancy for both men and women to over 70 years; decrease in maternal mortality to below 80 for 100,000 live births; decrease in infant and child mortality to less than 14 and 16 per 10,000 live births; decrease by 25 per cent in cardiovascular disease mortality; cancer, diabetes and lung disease, reduce by 25 per cent the impact of smoking, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet, reduce the risk and decrease incidences and prevalence of communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Dr Persaud said the plan has two strategic pillars which are universal health coverage and the social determinants of health.
Some of the new strategic components include improved governance reorganising the delivery of health, the application of evidence-based approaches, capacity building, strengthening health sector financing, strengthening strategic information for planning and implementation, develop performance management and monitoring systems.
Priority areas include family health, NCDs, human resources, communicable diseases, environmental health, accident responses, frontier, migrant, remote and vulnerable population, advanced health care and health literacy, the release said.
