Christopher Tufton | When doves cry

On March 27, in Dominica, as the chair of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSAD), a subcommittee of CARICOM, signalled the start of the meeting to consider the adoption of Caribbean Moves, a regional response to lifestyle diseases (NCDs), which is responsible for over seventy per cent of deaths in the region.

This was the culmination of The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)-led consultations funded by the Caribbean Development Bank to integrate physical activity and nutrition programmes under one umbrella called Caribbean Moves. The report was ready for presentation and, hopefully, adaptation by the Caribbean community.

I was asked to make one of the presentations by the head of CARPHA, Dr Joy St John and with good reason. Jamaica enjoyed pride of place with this initiative as the country that conceptualised this branded behavioural-change response to counter the ravages of non-communicable diseases caused by lifestyle practices. As a people, we have evolved out of a colonial experience and increasing globalisation influencing our consumption of high levels of ultra-processed foods with excess salts, sugars and fats, alcohol and tobacco, and less-than-adequate physical activity. The consequences of this are rapidly increasing cases of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and cancers. A response was required.

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

In 2016, as the newly minted minister of health (later health and wellness) the concept of a branded ebhavioural change physical activity and nutrition programme was birthed through small talk at the Mona Dam and the Pacers Running Club. I was searching for a new approach to confront lifestyle illnesses, which claimed up to 80 per cent of lives lost in the country. The answer was not on a prescription pad, I thought at the time, but in the choices we made as individuals, communities, and countries. The concern and concept I was clear on. The name and branding were done through collaboration with one of the craziest (creative crazy) but brilliant creative thinkers I knew at the time. Jamaica Moves (JaMoves) was born.

Let’s brand movement in keeping with culture – music and activities – and subtract the vices, so serve only water. There is enough magic in the music, the dance, the runs, the hikes, the swims. The Caribbean culture can be healthy if we nudge people into healthier active-lifestyle practices. Create the forum, and they will come and participate. Then let’s measure the impact of movement on our health status. The message was simplified: thirty minutes of activity each day, with proper nutrition, may keep the doctor away.

But for the JaMoves brand to take the route, it needed funding for activations and the government process, while endorsing, was not initially prepared to fund the concept, so we creatively packaged selected corporate brands as value to them for promoting good health to their consumers. We had some successes there.

So here we were, almost eight years after the JaMoves concept was created through private-sector partnerships and collaboration, witnessing the start of the regional integration of an idea that has outlasted starts and stops, trials, and triumphs. Today was upbeat, with CARICOM ministers endorsing a regional framework for Caribbean people. There was unusual pride captured in this leg of the journey.

ENDORSEMENTS

As I read the brief in Dominica, I was reminded that eight years on, JaMoves-turned-Caribbean Moves received the endorsement of CARICOM heads in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in July 2018, was sanctioned at the launch of the United Nations (UN) High-Level meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs in New York on September 27, 2018. The concept has also been endorsed by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the Commonwealth, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), and the University of the West Indies.

Passion for the programme saw much labour of love supported by small contributions from agencies like the local branch of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for the creation of branded shirts and travel miles to support the activations or start-ups in New York, St Kitts and Nevis, and Barbados, with advice for start-ups in Trinidad and St Lucia.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

But it was not always an easy road. The JaMoves concept underwent a public trial on how the concept was created, who owned the idea, how it was funded, and what were the motives. There were interrogations and calls for access to information, which made the road to Caribbean Moves that much more difficult. For a time, JaMoves was a symbol of sadness and disappointment for many. But we pressed on, knowing that the road with good intentions is never paved with gold.

Today, an endorsement and adoption by the Caribbean Community meant that it was all worth it. A regional institution has been created. It is now up to us, as Caribbean leaders and Caribbean citizens, to make it work for us. As COVID-19 has taught us, health and wellness are fundamental for social and economic advancement.

NEED FOR MORE

Caribbean governments must integrate lifestyle policies for the health and wellness of their populations to enhance Caribbean Moves, school nutrition, and elimination of trans fats. They must see the creation of parks and walking trails as essentials of a healthy, wholesome society. And they should brand and package healthy living to counter the negative impact of branding and marketing unhealthy lifestyles and products.

As I reflect on the journey travelled and the sacrifices made by so many, I revisited a proposal I wrote that captured the concept of JaMoves as a global cause. I am convinced that Jamaica and the Caribbean can lead the rest of the world on a path to sustained movement and balanced nutrition. I am proud to say that this has started. From JaMoves to Caribbean Moves and, hopefully, to the world! Let’s keep moving!

Dr Christopher Tufton is Jamaica’s minister of health and wellness and member of parliament for St Catherine West Central. Send feedback to cctufton@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.