Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Barbados, as
indeed it is in the Caribbean. To tackle this problem the Government of Barbados
recently put its hand to a Service Level Agreement and Contract that will see
the delivering of expanded, efficient and effective cardiovascular services by
the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados. The
agreement, which was signed on September 21st 2006 at the Ministry of Health on
Jemmotts Lane by Hon. Jerome Walcott, Minister of Health, provides $5.7m for the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital to update, centralize and modernize to international
standards its cardiac diagnostic and treatment facilities.
It also provides for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of
Barbados to receive $900,000 over the next five years, which will allow for
a major expansion of the Foundation’s Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and
Rehabilitation (CDP&R) programme.
President of the Heart & Stroke
Foundation of Barbados, "Dru" Symmomds SCM, J.P., signing the Service Level Agreement.
Looking on are, left, Adrian Randall, CEO of the Foundation and right, Mrs.
Antoinette Williams, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health.
Under the contract patients assessed and referred from the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who would not otherwise be able to take advantage of
the CDP&R programme owing to financial inability, will be able to benefit from
this vital after-care service following heart attack or other major cardiac
event.
Up to 50 additional patients can be accommodated at any one
time in the Foundation’s 12-month programme.
Mr. ‘Dru’ Symmonds SCM, J.P., President of the Heart & Stroke
Foundation of Barbados, signed on behalf of the Foundation. He expressed delight
that the Ministry of Health has recognised the value of the work of the
Foundation by awarding the contract, and added, “We have built up our expertise
in this field over the past few years, but the number of patients able to
benefit from the service has been limited to those able to pay and to a very
small number for whom the Foundation has been able to provide the service
through the generous contribution of corporate donor support, especially from
Messrs Lasco (Barbados) Ltd. This initiative will ensure that many additional
qualified patients, who were hitherto deprived because of financial
circumstance, will now have the opportunity of rehabilitative cardiovascular
services at the Foundation.”
The Foundation expects to shortly begin to accept clients in
the programme .
A task force on cardiovascular diseases, headed by Professor
Trevor Hassell, has been set up and will look at different aspects of
prevention, diagnosis, treatment and after-care of patients at risk, or those
suffering from the disease, and make recommendations for further development of
the programme. CEO of the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Adrian Randall, is also a
member of the task force.
