World Health Day is commemorated around the world annually on 7th April.
This year, World Health Day was observed under the theme “My Health, My Right.”
The theme this year was fitting, particularly in St. Kitts and Nevis, as the nation ranked 51 of 193 nations on the Human Development Index (HDI) in the United Nations Development Programme’s 2023-24 Human Development Report.
The HDI is a summary composite measure of a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge and standard of living.
On Sunday, Prime Minister and Minister with responsibility for Health, Dr. Terrance Drew, also underscored the timeliness of this year’s World Health Day theme.
“This year’s theme underscores the fundamental truth, that access to good health is a basic human right. Every human being has the right to the highest attainable standard of health which is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being; not merely the absence of disease,” he said.
Prime Minister Drew continued, “The right to health is interrelated to other human rights which are in turn linked to the underlying determinants of health including those factors such as the right to safe drinking water, the right to adequate nutrition, the right to education, and to decent working and environmental conditions.
“Globally, the overall commitment to human rights in general has declined steadily with adverse effects on health. The aim of this year’s theme is to revive the health and human rights agenda. The goal is to champion the rights of everyone, everywhere, to have access to good quality health services.”
The prime minister went on to outline his government’s obligations to its citizens and residents with respect to healthcare.
“The Federation has an obligation to ensure that all citizens and residents realise the right to health and its entitlements including preventative care, early screening, treatment and control of diseases, rehabilitation, and access to essential medicines and maternal, child, and reproductive health services.
Health is a human right, and it is indivisible from other human rights. It is critical to achieving the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) and ensuring a sustainable island state. The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is committed to safeguarding every citizen’s right to health.
“The Ministry of Health recognises that achieving this ideal of the highest standard of physical and mental health requires unwavering dedication to addressing the root causes of health inequities, such as poverty, stigma, and discrimination. It is imperative that we advance the cause of universal health coverage which is embedded in primary health care, in order to make quality health services affordable and accessible to all.”
Specifically, Dr. Drew noted that since coming to office his government has taken steps to address specific areas in the healthcare system to improve outcomes for both the community and healthcare workers.
These include:
Fighting Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) by increasing health education, health promotion, and health screening activities along with the adoption of new treatment guidelines.
Addressing Issues of Mental Health
Continuing Surveillance and Prevention of Communicable Diseases by increasing community vaccination efforts for routine antigens, while programmes such as HIV and Environmental Health continue to reach out to the target groups in the mitigation of disease spread.
Strengthening primary health care services via the increased cadre of trained District Medical Officers (DMOs) and community nurses.
Strengthening Institutional Based Health Services (IBHS) through: (1) recruitment of specialised doctors and nurses; (2) improving dietary services; (3) the procurement of the latest diagnostic tools – A computed tomography (CT) scan machine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, fluoroscopy equipment, mammography machine, and an electroencephalogram (EEG) Machine.
Determining adequate financing mechanisms to support the implementation of a sustainable national health insurance scheme which allows people to access secondary and tertiary level care without adverse economic consequences.
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