Ministry of health on quest to effect behavioural change
by Barbados GIS
Posted: Jan 25, 2006 12:28 UTC
BRIDGETOWN (BGIS) - The Ministry of Health is on a mission to bring about behavioural change in the areas of alcoholism, drug dependency and HIV/AIDS awareness.
This is according to Senior Medical Officer for Communicable Disease, Dr. Karen Springer, who spoke last night at the Awards and Recruitment Ceremony for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency at the King Street Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Dr. Springer said "initially the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS was viewed as a crisis in public health and was defined as a health issue that required a health response;" she, however, dismissed this view as "too simplistic".
She said that the Barbados Government in 2000, cognisant that the epidemic was not simply about public health, implemented its expanded multi- sector programme under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office. Other key Ministries such as Education, Youth Affairs and Sports and Tourism were also brought on board.
Dr. Springer noted that the Ministry of Health had been educating and making people aware of the consequences of the use of illegal and legal drugs, as well as the practice of safe sexual habits for many years. Nevertheless, she said, the Ministry still seemed unable to transfer the knowledge that they were imparting into appropriate behavioural change.
The Senior Medical Officer concluded that the key to our problems was behavioural change and she cautioned that if this did not take place we would lose our young people to either drugs or HIV/AIDS or both.
by Barbados GIS
Posted: Jan 25, 2006 12:28 UTC
BRIDGETOWN (BGIS) - The Ministry of Health is on a mission to bring about behavioural change in the areas of alcoholism, drug dependency and HIV/AIDS awareness.
This is according to Senior Medical Officer for Communicable Disease, Dr. Karen Springer, who spoke last night at the Awards and Recruitment Ceremony for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency at the King Street Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Dr. Springer said "initially the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS was viewed as a crisis in public health and was defined as a health issue that required a health response;" she, however, dismissed this view as "too simplistic".
She said that the Barbados Government in 2000, cognisant that the epidemic was not simply about public health, implemented its expanded multi- sector programme under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office. Other key Ministries such as Education, Youth Affairs and Sports and Tourism were also brought on board.
Dr. Springer noted that the Ministry of Health had been educating and making people aware of the consequences of the use of illegal and legal drugs, as well as the practice of safe sexual habits for many years. Nevertheless, she said, the Ministry still seemed unable to transfer the knowledge that they were imparting into appropriate behavioural change.
The Senior Medical Officer concluded that the key to our problems was behavioural change and she cautioned that if this did not take place we would lose our young people to either drugs or HIV/AIDS or both.
