inister Bostic made a special presentation to front-line worker and his ‘right-hand person’ Joy Springer, Information Officer at the Government Information Service, on whom he said he could call upon at any time to assist in getting information out to the public, particularly during the difficult COVID-19 period.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic, and Chairman of the National Task Force for Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. Carlos Lovell, participated in the tai chi exercises led by Qaasen Sealy of the Annu Institute for Health and Human Development.
MINISTER of Health and Wellness, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic, says greater emphasis must be placed on mental wellness in Barbados and a concerted effort is under way to do so.
His comments came during activities being held to celebrate Caribbean Wellness Day held yesterday at Sheraton Mall, also marking the start of Caribbean Wellness Week which
is being held under the theme “Stronger Together 2020”.
The Minister explained that it has been recognised globally that mental wellness is one of the weapons to be used to fight the COVID pandemic, which he lamented has been neglected.
“Yes we in Barbados, we have had some episodes
of wellness within the COVID-19 fight, but we are not where we are supposed to be and we have to change that.
“Not only for COVID, generally speaking, wellness issues and mental wellness issues are very important issues in this country. In communities, in homes, in schools, in offices, in churches, all over the place and it is one of those areas that we must have a national policy where we bring together all stakeholders because all of us have a role to play in this.”
The Minister challenged the stakeholders in attendance to join with his Ministry in crafting a National Mental Health Policy for Barbados. “That is absolutely necessary and the wheels are in motion to have that going. So that is going to be one of the major focuses going forward in terms of our wellness initiatives. The Mental Health Wellness Programme of the Ministry of Health and Wellness has to be at the top of the ladder.”
Minister Bostic also reminded that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are still a major challenge on the island.
“As much as we have been focused on dealing with the pandemic, let me say that at the forefront of our minds is the fact that even with COVID around, NCDs related death remain the major cause of death in Barbados and so the fight against non-communicable diseases will continue to be the most significant effort in the Ministry of Health and Wellness until we are able to wrestle with that monster.”
Yesterday’s event included a Health and Wellness Expo hosted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in collaboration with the National Task Force on Wellness, featuring several educational and interactive booths set up inside the mall.
Donna Barker, Health Promotion Officer, explained that the expo featured the dimensions of wellness including: physical, environmental, social, financial, spirituation, emotion and intellectual, all with the objective of helping persons reduce risk of NCDs and reduce their stress levels.
Patrons also had an opportunity to learn more about tai chi from Qaasen Sealy of the Annu Institute for Health and Human Development and also danced with the line dancers of the Genesis Dance Studio led by Chief Instructor, Leon Greaves.(JH)