Not being sick doesn’t mean you're healthy
Published:Thursday | June 14, 2018 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Most Jamaicans are unaware of the role that they will have to play in preserving their health. While it's true that we currently have approximately 350 health centres islandwide, there is still a need for a radical change in how we educate, demonstrate and promote preventative healthcare strategies among the population.
Preventative healthcare within the context of primary healthcare holds the solutions to many of our problems. The truth is, a good healthcare system can only be developed on sound primary healthcare services. Sadly, over the years, there has been an increase in the healthcare expenditure, and despite this, there still has not been a significant increase in the health status of the general population.
An individual who is not sick does not indicate that he or she is healthy as the absence of a diagnosable disease does not equal well-being. It is on this basis that we must organise our resources to put preventative healthcare and, more specifically, disease prevention at as central to our efforts of creating a healthy population.
We must take steps to raise our ambition and voices to prevent the preventable and promote quality health for all.
What we want is for citizens not only to be free from disease but to also practise good dietary habits, along with exercise. The government will not only have to increase expenditure on primary healthcare, but there needs to be an integrated approach of preventative, curative and rehabilitative services.
Let us place prevention at the core of our healthcare efforts.
BENYAMIN COOKE