A recent financing study indicates that less than 10 percent of Government funding has been allocated to preventative care.
This was recently revealed by Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Cheryl Alleyne, who believes that this number must be doubled if we are to make any progress in the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
She was at the time delivering the feature address at the Pan American Health Organisation???s (PAHO) Opening Ceremony of the Forum of Key Stakeholders on Non-Communicable Diseases at Hilton Barbados.
Mrs. Alleyne explained that this would translate to the strengthening of our general practice clinics in the island???s eight polyclinics and in the private sector.
She added that more funding would assist in enhancing protocols for guiding clinical practice; systems for data collection, monitoring and evaluation; guidelines for laboratory and other diagnostic services, as well as the systems for referral and discharge to and from secondary and tertiary care.
The Acting Permanent Secretary also pointed out that government taxation continued to be the main source of funding for these services, with 55 per cent of the country???s expenditure coming from funds allocated to the Ministry of Health for the 2012-2013 financial year.
However, she maintained that the Ministry was ???committed to reviewing all options of healthcare financing???, and that ???the principles of natural justice and universal healthcare will be preserved.??? Compared to the rest of the Caribbean, Barbados??? per captia health expenditure is ranked the third highest after the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
shayla.murrell@barbados.gov.bb