Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 23, 2018 (SKNIS): A co-authored article by Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris and Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr. James Hospedales titled “Climate Change and Non-Communicable Diseases: Two Sides of the Same Coin” is published in this year’s official conference book for the upcoming G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 30 – December 01, 2018.
The article which appears on page 176 of the 192 page publication quotes the authors saying, “More must be done to protect Small Island and low-lying developing states (SIDS) from the escalating dual threats of rising temperatures and unhealthier populations.”
“Climate Change and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are symptoms of the inherent failures in our development paradigms. Our SIDS are the most vulnerable to the impact of both NCDs and climate change which is reflected in the Samoa Pathway,” the article quoted.
The article also highlighted that “there are effective public policies and programmes that can help turn the tide on this NCD epidemic. Measures to improve regulatory capacity for tobacco, alcohol, food and medicines are needed to reduce population risk levels and to increase access to treatment.”
The Dr. Harris and Dr. Hospedales co-authored article made an important link between climate change and NCDs by looking at the effects of pollution. It stated that “as heat and drought lead to more fires and smoke, pollution from vehicle emissions can trigger asthma and chronic respiratory disease.”
The article made a special appeal for a range of health and other sectors to be involved in tackling the NCD challenge. It quoted the authors saying, “We welcome the new Defeat-NCD partnership as a ‘big tent’ to bring together public and private-sector agencies and civil-society organizations to share information and identify good practices in funding; service delivery; positive behaviour change, and community engagement so that all these facets can be scaled up.”
“The urgency today demands that we develop and foster such mutually beneficial and demonstrative partnership without delay,” the article concluded.
