This Diabetes Awareness Month should serve as another reminder of the importance of healthy living in fighting chronic non-communicable diseases.
Diabetes is a prime example of the type of NCD that is on the rise in the Virgin Islands and much of the rest of the world. Others include cancer, hypertension, and heart and kidney disease.
Taken together, such illnesses cause about 51 percent of deaths in the VI, according to a 2012 survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Development.
They also represent a significant economic cost. Diabetes UK recently warned the United Kingdom government that the growth of diabetes could bankrupt the country’s National Health Service in the next 20 years, according to the BVI Diabetes Association. The BVIDA stated this month that it does not have corresponding numbers for the VI, but it believes the cost here could be similar.
The good news is that the chances of contracting — or surviving — many NCDs can be significantly lowered by eating right, exercising regularly and getting preventive health care.
To encourage such behaviours, the VI has taken many positive steps in recent years, the most important of which may well prove to be the planned universal health care system.
Additionally, under a 10-year NCD-prevention strategy, the government has promoted awareness and launched activities such as the recent 10,000 Steps a Day Challenge.
Non-profit organisations including the BVIDA and the BVI Cancer Society have also contributed much, including hosting campaigns this month and last month, respectively.
Many businesses have come on board as well, encouraging healthy eating, offering discounted gym memberships to employees, or taking other similar steps.
We hope that such initiatives will continue and expand in the future. To that end, reaching out to young people is particularly important.
Though there has been positive progress in recent years — 14 primary schools, for example, are taking part in the government’s new Healthy Lifestyle School Intervention Programme — many children still regularly eat unhealthy lunches from roadside vendors.
As soon as possible, we would like to see nutritious food served in all schools at prices that are affordable enough to encourage children and their parents to take advantage. Regular physical education classes are also crucial.
Examples of related policy initiatives outside of schools include building more sidewalks, parks and bicycle lanes.
Such steps should be a priority as the territory works to tackle one of the most worrisome health challenges it faces.
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