Health Reform Must Start Beyond Hospitals, Minister Says

(Minister of Health Addresses South Leeward Conference Health Launch)

Health Minister, Sir Molwyn Joseph recently addressed the Health Launch hosted by the South Leeward Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, highlighting the importance of health reform and the critical role of faith communities in promoting healthier lifestyles.

Speaking under the theme “The Cause for Health Reform,” Minister Joseph commended the Seventh-day Adventist Church for its longstanding leadership in promoting health and wellbeing through principles such as balanced nutrition, physical activity, rest, temperance, and holistic wellbeing.

The Minister noted that health reform is not solely the responsibility of healthcare institutions but a national responsibility that requires the involvement of individuals, families, communities, and organizations. He emphasized that meaningful and lasting change occurs not only through policy, but through the everyday choices made in homes, workplaces, and places of worship.

Reflecting on the evolution of public health, Minister Joseph highlighted the significant progress made over the past century through advances in sanitation, clean water, vaccination programmes, and stronger health systems. These developments have dramatically reduced the impact of infectious diseases that once claimed countless lives across the world.

However, he explained that Antigua and Barbuda, like many countries globally, is now experiencing what public health experts describe as an epidemiological transition — a shift from infectious diseases as the primary causes of death to chronic, non-communicable diseases.
According to national data, approximately 82 percent of deaths in Antigua and Barbuda are attributed to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses.

Minister Joseph noted that the risk factors driving these diseases remain widespread, including unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, obesity, high blood pressure, and elevated blood glucose levels.
“These indicators make it clear that the greatest health challenge we face today is not only treating disease, but preventing it,” he stated, noting that prevention and healthier lifestyles must therefore remain central to the country’s public health strategy.

The Minister highlighted several initiatives currently being advanced by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to strengthen the national health system and improve prevention.
These include strengthening epidemiological surveillance systems to improve the country’s ability to detect and respond to emerging health threats, as well as expanding national efforts toward the elimination of cervical cancer through increased HPV testing, improved access to screening, and strengthened early detection services.

He also noted that the Government is advancing reforms to modernize mental health services, including the development of a new Mental Health Bill aimed at strengthening protections for persons living with mental illness and ensuring that care is delivered in a more humane and rights-based manner.

The establishment of the Behavioural Health Centre was also highlighted as an important step in expanding access to assessment, treatment, counselling, and community-based behavioural health support for individuals and families.
Minister Joseph further reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to advancing National Health Insurance, which aims to ensure that all citizens and residents have access to essential health services without financial hardship.

“National Health Insurance represents more than a financing reform,” the Minister noted. “It reflects a national commitment that health is not a privilege for a few, but a right that must be protected for all.”
He emphasized that meaningful health reform requires a whole-of-society approach, with government, communities, civil society, and faith-based organizations working together to promote healthier lives.

Minister Joseph congratulated the South Leeward Conference for launching the initiative and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to partnering with faith communities to build a healthier Antigua and Barbuda for this generation and generations to come.

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