Deyalsingh: Specialist treatment at Couva hospital

SPECIALISED heart, kidney and eye medical services will be offered at the Couva Adult and Children's Hospital. This was said on Sunday by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at the Go Red for Women tea and fashion show at the Hyatt. Deyalsingh said the heart, kidney and eyes are the three organs of the body which are most commonly affected by non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Reiterating that phase one of the hospital's operationalisation will start next month, he said, "We are going to dedicate the Couva hospital to treating those three major organ systems." He identified corneal transplants as one kind of eye procedure that will be done. Deyalsingh also said dialysis will not be done in isolation. "We want to do a total renal care programme." Cardiac research will also be done at the hospital. He also promised that by the end of this year "we will have a functioning NCD registry." He recalled that Caricom's NCD policy was established in 2007, largely on the efforts of then prime minister Patrick Manning (deceased). But Deyalsingh said it was curious that TT's efforts to combat NCDs and encourage healthy lifestyles "went into a coma" from 2007 to 2015.

He said, last year 27,000 women were screened for gestational diabetes (GD) and this disease caused difficult deliveries for pregnant women and resulted in death in some cases. Babies delivered by women with GD, become diabetic children and adults. He said this was why Government banned the sale of soft drinks in schools. Deyalsingh added that tobacco regulations that will see warning labels being put on cigarette cartons, were laid in Parliament last Friday.

Reema Carmona, wife of former president Anthony Carmona, said there is a childhood obesity pandemic in the Caribbean. She said this has resulted in more than 30 per cent of adolescents in the region being overweight or obese. With the cost of NCDs to the Caribbean between 1.4 and 1.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, Carmona warned this could create a human development crisis in the region. She said there must be a culinary revolution in TT's kitchens to help turn the tide.

Carmona recalled the role she played in ensuring that 90 per cent of the meals served at official functions hosted by the Office of the President were healthy and had high nutritional value.