The government is urging businesses and community groups to take a more active role in tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which now account for 83 per cent of adult deaths in Barbados, while costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars each year, health minister Davidson Ishmael said Wednesday.
In a keynote speech to open the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council Health and Wellness Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Ishmael, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, issued a stark warning based on the latest figures.
The financial and human toll of chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular disease has reached an unsustainable tipping point for the small island developing state, the minister told a packed room of delegates.
“Eighty-three per cent of the adults who die in our country die as a result of a non-communicable disease,” Ishmael said. “And that should startle you. It should also bring sober reflection even as you look at your own self individually, but it should also cause us to reflect on what is happening across the board in our country. These deaths are largely preventable. These are premature deaths that we’re talking about.”
The minister expressed deep concern over the visible toll these illnesses are taking on Barbadian society, noting the prevalence of bereavement notices on social media. He lamented the loss of productive citizens, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who are dying long before reaching their normal life expectancy.
Beyond the human cost, Ishmael outlined the economic pressure on the healthcare system. Barbados spends between $375m and $825m annually to treat NCD-related illnesses, a burden funded directly by taxpayers.
“That is money that is coming out of our pockets every single month to help us to fund the affairs of our country,” Ishmael explained. “Three hundred and twenty-five million goes towards dealing with diabetes, hypertension, cancer, strokes, heart attacks. That’s a lot of money. And if we have a healthier population, we can therefore, one would argue, see a reduction in the amount of money that we spend to treat NCD-related illness.”
Compounding the direct medical costs is a major economic impact from lost workplace productivity. According to the country’s latest health report survey, Barbados loses upwards of $147m a year because affected workers are physically unable to perform at their peak.
The junior health minister directly challenged the TVET Council and business leaders to intervene, arguing that the state cannot carry the financial burden alone. While pledging that the government would continue to allocate the necessary millions to treat the sick, he warned that the current model limits national development.
“I posit to you that this is not sustainable for us as a small island developing state,” Ishmael declared. “We need to be able to re-allocate the funds that we spend towards treating illness, towards helping our country to be far more productive, building new industries, building new sectors. We need to be able to invest more in ensuring that we create a firm framework and a foundation that allows our country to be able to produce more and thrive. And that cannot happen if we have our people battling with disease.”
The urgency of the health crisis is further intensified by a demographic shift. Barbados is grappling with a rapidly ageing population, with more than one in four Barbadians being over age 60.
Looking ahead, projections point to an even greater challenge. By the year 2050, one in three persons in Barbados will be aged 65 or older.
“Preserving the health and wellness of an ageing population is essential for maintaining overall quality of life, reducing the economic strain of healthcare costs, and allowing people to continue to make a meaningful contribution to the society even as they age,” Ishmael noted.
He observed that modern vocational trends are shifting, with older citizens increasingly opting for “encore careers”, active investments, and semi-retirement rather than traditional withdrawal from the workforce. But, for this pattern of active ageing to succeed, preventative longevity must become a national priority.
He enlisted conference attendees as “champions of change”, urging every organisation present to launch immediate health and wellness initiatives. Workplace programmes do not require expensive equipment or specialised instructors to be effective, he said.
He suggested simple, no-cost measures, such as streaming fitness videos on conference room screens for employees on Friday evenings. He also reminded employers to utilise the Ministry of Health’s mobile clinic, which can be coordinated through the Chief Nursing Officer to visit offices and schools to provide on-site medical screenings.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is partnering with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to draft a National Wellness Policy. The framework aims to bring together existing strategies — such as individual cancer reduction plans and NCD programmes — into a single national approach to wellness at the individual, community, and organisational levels.
“If all of us do our part, if each of you play our small part in our small area of Barbados, I believe that we will see a cumulative change in our circumstances as a country,” Minister Ishmael said. “Let us turn these conversations into actionable habits that transform our daily efforts into sustained social interventions and lasting positive change.”
(RR)
