PORT OF SPAIN, Trini-dad and Tobago – The government will consider legislating a ban on smoking in public places, improve physical education facilities at public schools and provide tax incentives for the creation of on-the-job exercise facilities, all as part of its ongoing commitment to stemming the incidences of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) in The Bahamas, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said Saturday.
Prime Minister Ingraham's remarks came during an interview with Trinidad and Tobago's C-News Station at CARICOM's Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases – diseases the Caribbean Community has dubbed one of the greatest threats to development in the region.
Back in 2001, CARICOM Heads adopted the Nassau Declaration that The Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region, which was designed to accelerate the response to various health conditions facing the region. The 2007 summit in Trinidad was the result of progress from the Declaration adopted in The Bahamas.
"Specifically, we have a problem with respect to hypertension," Ingraham indicated. "We have high levels of diabetes.
"Apart from the fact that we are going to put in place a national program for the provision of medicines for all persons irrespective of ability to pay for their prescriptions, we are also going to have a major effort in terms of prevention."
Diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, coupled with obesity and a lack of physical activity, are the leading cause of death and disability in The Bahamas, with the summit revealing that Bahamians are 10-times more likely to die of hypertension than their Canadian counterparts.
Highlighting the government's recent announcement of a new dietary program for all public schools, the prime minister also foreshadowed improvements to public school exercise facilities, adding that the government is going to seek to have health promotion as a major part of initiatives within the public health sector.
"We are going to seek to duplicate what we have in a few government offices, that is rooms with exercise equipment in many more government facilities and we are going to seek to encourage employers to do so by providing incentives and tax exemptions for them to acquire equipment to be able to facilitate people engaging in exercise," Prime Minister Ingraham said.
Emphasising that most CNCDs can be prevented through lifestyle changes in diet and exercise, the Trinidad summit also placed emphasis on the role of tobacco consumption in the incidences of cancer and heart disease in the region, and the need to enact tobacco control measures such as increased import taxation and the prohibition of smoking in public places.
A 2005 Ministry of Health study on CNCDs revealed that just over seven percent of the Bahamian population smokes cigarettes.
The Prime Minister pointed out that The Bahamas currently has a 200 percent tax on cigarettes and that during its previous terms in office, his government made the now Lynden Pindling International Airport a smoke-free environment.
He indicated that decisions will now have to be made regarding the way forward for tobacco control measures in The Bahamas.
"We are now going to consider banning (smoking) in public places period," the prime minister noted. "We have casinos (and) we have conflicting views as to whether or not a casino should be exempted from a policy.
"We are going to make some decisions about that but I think at the end of day we will either have a total ban on smoking in all public places, or the number of public places will be very minimal and even if that happens that will have to be for a minimal period of time, I think."
Seconded by The Bahamas, CARICOM Heads adopted its Trinidad summit declaration entitled, "Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic NCDs" Saturday afternoon.
The Declaration included the commitment from the Heads of Government to give full support for the initiatives and mechanisms aimed at strengthening regional health institutions; immediate pursuance of a legislative agenda for passage of the legal provisions related to the International Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the development of public education programs on lifestyle management as well as through the formal education system.
The Declaration also called for the mandating of the re-introduction of physical education in schools where necessary; provide incentives and resources to effect this policy and ensure that our education sectors promote programs aimed at providing healthy school meals and promoting healthy eating.
