Attorney General Dale Marshall is encouraging Barbadians to pay greater attention to their health, and regularly have their blood pressure checked.
Mr. Marshall made the comments today, at Ilaro Court, after having his blood pressure checked as part of an initiative to commemorate May Measurement Month, sponsored by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus.
Stating that he was pleased to participate in the awareness drive, the Attorney General continued: “This is not new, I’ve had high blood pressure for many, many years. I’m not sure what brought it on – if it was politics or the law – but whatever the reason for it, I’ve had to deal with that, and I’ve been on prescribed medication to keep my blood pressure under control for a long time.
“I … encourage all Barbadians to pay attention to this silent killer. Getting regular blood pressure checks is going to be vital; … in this especially stressful time it is probably more important now than ever. So for all of those Barbadians who don’t pay any attention to this kind of thing, please, please, please get your blood pressure checked. It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t cost anything…. There’s nothing that can compare to taking good care of yourself and paying attention to your health.”
Mr. Marshall’s blood pressure was taken by medical students Joshua Grant-Desire, who is in his second year, and Anna Springer, who is in her fourth year. Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology at The UWI, Dr. Kenneth Connell, and Chief Executive Officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Michelle Daniel, were also present.
Dr. Kenneth Connell urged men to take advantage of every opportunity to have their blood pressure checked. He disclosed that a “Barber Shop Project”, which follows a similar model done in 2018, would be rolled out shortly, where men would be able to have their pressure checked when visiting their barbers.
May Measurement Month will continue until August 31. Dr. Connell explained that the aim of the initiative was two-fold. “The aim this year is…to get patients to do…self-monitoring at home with their own machines, and secondly, to recognise that hypertension is a major cardiovascular risk….
“The American College of Cardiology has, two weeks ago, identified COVID-19 as an independent cardiovascular risk factor. So we really need to get on top of the game,” Dr. Connell proffered.