Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey to guide policy initiatives

 

The Ministry of Health and Wellness is to use data from the fourth Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey as a guide in formulating policies. 

 

The 15-month survey, to be led by the Caribbean Institute for Public Health Research, in collaboration with the ministry, through the Health Systems Strengthening Programme, will be used to guide the allocation of health services and the evaluation of the impact of public health interventions. 

 

Addressing a contract assigning ceremony for the project on Wednesday, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton said focus will be on the leading causes of illness and death in the country, specifically non-communicable diseases. 

 

"What this kind of data does for us, it gives us an opportunity to develop specific and targeted programmes because it captures age cohort, it captures some geographic distribution, and it captures what are some of the main causes, including ignorance, people not knowing - and too many Jamaicans don't know until they end up in an accident and emergency ward. They don't know that their blood sugar level is out, they don't know that they're hypertensive till they get a stroke. So those are the sort of practical realities that we have to confront and deal with, which is why the data is so important," said Dr. Tufton. 

 

The fourth Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey is conducted at a cost of $138.98 million. The last round of information gathering revealed that one in three Jamaicans were living with high blood pressure, and nearly half of those affected were unaware of their condition. 

 

The survey also showed that more than 50% of adults are overweight or obese, and fewer than 20% were getting enough physical activity.