Hanover Parish Council to launch wellness programme

MAYOR OF Lucea Wynter McIntosh says he will follow the lead of the Hanover Parish Library and spearhead a workplace wellness programme at the municipality to promote physical activity and reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

McIntosh was speaking with Western Focus following his participation in the launch of the first workplace wellness programme and health expo for Hanover, which was staged by the Hanover Parish Library Network in collaboration with the Hanover Health Department at the Lucea Library at Watson Taylor Drive, last Thursday.

“The launch of this workplace wellness fair is absolutely awesome. The HPC (Hanover Parish Council) is fully on board, and I trust that the other agencies in the parish will come fully on board as well,” McIntosh said. “The secretary-manager and I are in serious discussions now, and certainly, before the end of October, the HPC will have its own workplace programme. So I will be getting on board some support staff that will come and assist the staff in the evening so that we can have workouts.

“With my little workout today, already I started feeling some effects, but certainly as you go Team members of the Hanover Parish Library Network pose for a photo with officers from the Hanover 4-H Clubs. The Hanover 4-H staged an exhibit on healthy foods at the event. along, it will just be beneficial ... . At the next sitting of council, I am going to make sure I encourage every head of agency to support this kind of healthy lifestyle,” the mayor added.

PROMOTING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The Ministry of Health’s National Strategic and Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs in Jamaica 2013 to 2018 aims to reduce physical inactivity by five per cent by 2018.

According to the plan, “the global and national burden and threat of NCDs constitutes a major public health challenge of the 21st century that undermines the social and economic development worldwide and in Jamaica” and “urgent action is required to mitigate their impact in Jamaica and the rest of the world”.

“In Jamaica, for the last three decades, NCDs have emerged as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica show that for 2009, diseases of the circulatory system, neo-plasms, endocrine and metabolic diseases, and disease of the respiratory system accounted for approximately 60 per cent of deaths among men and 75 per cent of deaths among women,” the document said.