25% of B'dos population unhealthy - minister

BEIJING (CMC):

A senior Barbados government minister has told an international health conference that a quarter of all adult nationals in his country have at least one chronic disease and the figure could increase to affect more Barbadians by 2025.

"While we may all differ in population and land size, language and finances, we must not differ in our commitment to win this war against chronic diseases. It places our current and future generations and our economies at great risk of survival," Health Minister Donville Inniss told the third annual China Health Forum here over the weekend.

"The challenges which we all face with (chronic diseases) are poised to wipe out our gains in social and economic development made over the past half century," he told the conference attended by health ministers, senior health administrators and other stakeholders.

He said apart from being faced with an ageing population, Barbados also has to deal with an increasingly unhealthy populace.

"Twenty-two per cent of all adults (over) 25 are hypertensive and this rises to 40 per cent in persons over age 60. Fourteen per cent over (age) 25 are diabetic or have impaired glucose tolerance and 17 per cent of adults over 40 have diabetes. Consistently over the last 10 years, heart disease, stroke and diabetes have been the leading three causes of death," he said.