Gopeesingh: Annual fatalities increased under PNM government

FORMER minister of education Dr Tim Gopeesingh is calling on the Prime Minister to sack Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh for what he called the mismanagement of the health sector which Gopeesingh says has caused an increase of over 7,000 annual fatalities since 2019.

Speaking at a press conference at the office of the Leader of the Opposition in Port of Spain last Friday, Gopeesingh said provisional data acquired through the Central Statistical Office (CSO) showed that annual fatalities grew from 11,266 in 2019 to 18,356 in 2022, an increase of 7,090.

The CSO's website only shows data for up to 2018, annual deaths for the preceding decade were typically between 9,000 to 12,000.

Gopeesingh said that even taking into account the pandemic which claimed roughly 4,600 lives, there is still an excess of over 2,400 lives lost.

Gopeesingh believes this is because the public health sector is not being managed properly under Deyalsingh's stewardship causing an increase in morbidity and mortality in the population and slammed the minister for not revealing those statistics.

"Families are losing members of their family because the government and the Ministry of Health have failed and are continuing to fail to address the situation as far as the health sector is concerned. And $56 billion have been spent over the last seven years in the health sector."

He said he was unable to get statistics from the CSO on the diseases causing fatality during the period in question, however, was able to get for the period 2011 to 2018. He said those showed deaths from chronic conditions like heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes and malignant neoplasms also increased since the PNM took up office in 2015.

He said the government reduced the opening hours of health centres around the country and even closed some. Gopeesingh said that limited the availability of services for screening and management. He also cited long wait times for clinic appointments and surgeries and staff shortages as contributing factors to the increased mortality.

Gopeesingh, therefore, called on Dr Rowley to intervene in the matter.

"We call on the Prime Minister to have urgent discussions that have called an urgent meeting to address this unacceptable situation in this country where people citizens and members of their families are losing their lives because of incompetence and gross mismanagement. I call for the resignation or the firing of the Minister of Health with immediate effect."

Since the pandemic, some studies have suggested that covid19 could exacerbate underlying comorbid conditions. Asked if he believed that might play a role in increasing mortality and morbidity, Gopeesingh said proper management would have combated that.

"If you're a Minister of Health, you would make sure you take care of these types of things."

Newsday contacted Deyalsingh, for a comment. The following is his response via WhatsApp:

"Did you ask for verification of the data and or check the CSO as a journalist to verify? That's my response which I hope you will carry.

"Also, in the budget debate in the Senate, Prof Hutchinson said life expectancy under my watch is increasing. I suggest you do your research instead of the usual he say she say. This will be my response."

Newsday obtained a copy of the data sent to Dr Gopeesingh. However, it could not be found on the CSO's website.

A closer look at the data

The following is a look at the data used by Dr Tim Gopeesingh in his assessment that deaths from chronic diseases were on the rise. They are compared across administrations. Given the data stops at 2018, the year 2013 is singled out to ensure a fair comparison range for each administration.

Heart disease deaths were at 2,519 in 2015 but up to 2,668 in 2018 – an increase of 149 between the administrations. However, a closer look at the statistics showed that such deaths totalled 2,141 in 2011. That means they increased annually. For the first three years of the People's Partnership (PP) administration's tenure, the deaths increased by 198.

Hypertension deaths fluctuated between 2011 and 2018 but were overall higher than the 138 in 2011. Such deaths went up to 192 by the end of the PP administration's first three years before decreasing to 155 in 2015. It then went up to 237 by 2018.

Cerebrovascular disease deaths were at 803 in 2011 and rose by 86 to 889 in 2013. It then rose by 87 in 2015 to 976. Under the PNM administration, it rose by 50 in 2018 to 1026.

Diabetes deaths also fluctuated for the period but decreased by 77 in 2013 going from 1,523 in 2011 down to 1,532. However, it increased the next year to 1,806 before decreasing to 1,743 in 2015. In 2018, these deaths increased by 210 to 1,953.

Malignant neoplasm deaths fluctuated between 2011 and 2018 but went from 1,531 in 2011 down to 1,514 in 2013. By 2015 it was 1,661, an increase of 130 compared to 2011. However, over the next three years, there was a consistent increase up to 1,908 in 2018, a difference of 394 compared to 2015.

Conversely, while heart attack deaths were at 71 in 2018, up from 42 in 2011, this was the lowest its been since 2012.

Stroke deaths fluctuated through the period but went up from 539 in 2011 to 594 in 2013. It then sat over 600 until 2018 when it came down to 599.

Statistics on cause of death from 2011- 2018:

Cause of death 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Heart diseases......................2141.....2299.....2339.....2574.....2519.....138.......2643.....2668

Hypertension........................138.......145.......192.......184.......155.......193.......217.......237

Heart attack..........................42.........82.........102.......93.........90.........95.........77.........71

Cerebrovascular disease.....803.......1013......889.......975.......976......1024.....1037.....1026

Stroke..................................539.......670.......594.......625.......615.......652.......654.......599

Diabetes Mellitus................1532.....1625.....1455.....1806.....1743.....1787.....1856.....1953

Malignant neoplasms...........1531.....1587.....1514.....1701.....1661.....1840.....1855.....1908