Tufton supports call for financial resources for NCDs, mental health response in SIDS

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has thrown his weight behind the call for external financing and capacity building assistance to small island developing states (SIDS) to address the escalating challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health.

“The current realities affecting SIDS are such that it requires scaled-up financial resources for the prevention and care management of NCDs and mental health,”

said Tufton from the SIDS Ministerial Conference on NCDs and Mental Health in Barbados last week.

“It is vital that we have the support of our developed country stakeholders and our international development partners to help put the reins on NCDs and premature death in our small islands,” he added.

SIDS are among the countries with the highest estimated risk of dying prematurely from any of the four main NCDs, notably cardiovascular disease, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

In fact, data from the World Health Organisation reveals that in 2019, of the 15 countries with over 30 per cent risk of premature death, eight were SIDS.

The numbers make the case for redoubled efforts to reduce exposure to NCD risk factors – including tobacco use, unhealthy diet, the harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, and air pollution – while enhancing access to and quality of care, which has significant cost implication.

A look at the budget of the National Health Fund (NHF), which subsidises the cost of NCDs medications for Jamaicans, helps to tell the story. Between the financial year 2015-2016 and 2020-2021, for example, the NCDs budget of the NHF moved from $3.9 billion to $5 billion, a difference of $1.17 billion or 30 per cent, with projections for continued increases in the coming years.

“At this rate of demand and cost increases to treat over 720,000 Jamaicans, served by the NHF, this critical entity will need approximately $40 billion over the next three years or risk being unable to address the needs of Jamaicans suffering from some sort of illness,” Tufton told Parliament during his 2022 Sectoral presentation.

The call for external support, meanwhile, is reflected in the outcome document from the conference, which was held in Barbados between June 14 and 16.