Submitted by Bentley
The recent debate on the number of elderly persons exceeding young people in Barbados got me thinking about the real problem we have. It’s not so much the demographic shift that’s the problem, the real problem is we have too many sick people; old and young and the burden on the health care system is having repercussions throughout society.
I remember back in 1997 reading a WHO report that stated that it costs one fifth to prevent disease as it costs to treat. There are so many things we are not doing and our society is not geared for active ageing. Unless we can move to the position of real health care (as opposed to sickness care as we now have) we will continue to bemoan the high expenditures.
As you know, I have written extensively on ways to go about this but unfortunately very little is being done and those in a position to lead are some of the worst offenders. I remember back in 1996 telling the then Minister of Health (Liz Thompson) that within 20 years our health (sickness) care system will collapse under the weight of chronic non-communicable diseases. Sadly, this prediction has come true. You have had my document, Rational Approach To Diet, Exercise in your library (item #27) for over 8 years now. It’s time to rekindle the online discussion.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.