Health Minister Moses Jn Baptiste has called for greater responsibility regarding alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, warning that rising levels of non-communicable diseases are placing increasing pressure on Saint Lucia’s healthcare system and economy.
Speaking during the May 18 pre-Cabinet press briefing, the Minister stressed that alcohol abuse among youth remains a growing concern that requires intervention at all levels of society.
“You know, children, I say children should not be drinking alcohol, and whether it be at public events or in the home, and we will step up, we will step up the vigilance,” Jn Baptiste stated.
The Minister warned that unhealthy lifestyles and substance abuse are not only affecting individuals and families but are also creating wider national economic challenges.
“Because it is impacting not just the families,” he explained. “This is very important, the health of the family, health of individuals, but as a government, we have to look at everything, and it’s impacting the economy of the country.”
According to Jn Baptiste, the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases is forcing the Government to allocate greater financial resources to healthcare annually.
“Those problems impact how governments allocate resources, and the amount of resources we need to allocate to health care,” he said. “Every single year, we have to increase the resources.”
The Health Minister cautioned that if current trends continue, the country could face significant consequences in workforce productivity and national economic performance.
“If non-communicable diseases continue to pose the challenge that they are posing now, it’s going to impact certainly the economy of the country, productivity at the level of the workforce,” he noted.
Jn Baptiste also stressed the importance of discouraging alcohol consumption among young people, especially at public events where underage drinking is sometimes observed.
“Certainly we should be discouraging young people, we should be doing all that we can at all levels to discourage young people from drinking, as we see in some areas, especially at public events,” he stated.
The Minister said the Government intends to continue strengthening public education campaigns through the Substance Abuse Secretariat and other health promotion initiatives.
“So we’ll continue our Substance Abuse Secretariat,” he said. “We are going to continue to improve our messaging, to popularize it even more.”
Pointing to international examples, Jn Baptiste said public awareness campaigns have successfully reduced smoking and alcohol consumption in several developed countries.
“Research has shown that in certain more developed countries, over time, what has happened with smoking, with the campaigns, we’ve seen drastic reductions in smoking,” he explained. “And there are certain countries we actually see a reduction in alcohol consumption over the entire population.”
The Minister also addressed the Government’s continued response to HIV awareness, treatment and prevention efforts.
“I know that our government, well, for a long time, the Ministry of Health has had a series of programs, not only awareness programs, but programs that deal with treatment for HIV, mother-to-child transmission, and so on,” Jn Baptiste said. “There’s been a series of programs dealing with HIV,” he continued.
While acknowledging questions surrounding a specific matter related to HIV, the Minister said he preferred not to comment without first obtaining complete information.
“If there is a particular situation with a specific individual, I’m certain the ministry would have investigated it and an update provided, but I do not yet have this update,” he stated. “But we are very committed,” he said. “We continue to be committed to ensuring that we continue to raise the awareness and to have programs for treatment for individuals who are impacted by HIV.”
Jn Baptiste reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to supporting individuals living with HIV and maintaining public awareness initiatives.