Government of Saint Lucia

In today's headlines: Nobel Laureate Festival month gets on the way and; World Arc sailors depart from Saint Lucia.

Recently, residents participated in an early morning exercise dubbed “Saint Lucia Wake up and Run”. The activity was organized by a member of the community, with support from key agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs.

For details, visit: https://www.govt.lc/news/wake-up-and-run-event-encourages-active-lifestyles

Cuba’s contribution to the strengthening of the island’s health sector through the provision of medical scholarships received another shot in the arm when a new cohort of students left the island this week to undertake studies in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation.

Telecommunications company Digicel has presented new scholarships to four students who sat the inaugural CPEA Exams in 2022.

Guided by the trends noted over the last five years and the data from the Behaviour Risk Factor Survey carried out in 2019, primary care/preventative health strengthening remains a major focus for the Ministry of Health.

We continue to note low levels of health screening, increases in obesity, low fruit and vegetable intake and limited physical activity among our population. Programs to improve on preventative strategies such as the adoption of healthy lifestyles, early detection and screening will be further strengthened to support the adoption of behaviours to improve the health status of our citizens. The Universal Health Coverage strategy, health system strengthening project and Results Based Financing Project will support the implementation of these programs in 2023.

The Ministry of Health encourages all individuals, communities and organizations to partner with us in promoting health and maintaining healthy habits. Together, we can make significant strides in reducing the burden of ill -health on our country.

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs is aware of a circulating statement on the XBB variant of COVID-19. We wish to inform the public that this statement did not emanate from the Ministry of Health in Saint Lucia and that it contains some misinformation which requires clarification.

The Saint Lucia Blood Bank encourages regular blood donations as a means of creating a strong yet sustainable national blood supply that is sufficient to meeting the needs of all patients requiring a transfusion. Just one pint of blood can save up to three lives!

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs would like to inform the public of its two ongoing surveys, one on Universal Health Coverage and the other on the effects of COVID-19 on diet, exercise and non-communicable diseases.

The surveys are meant to gather information to assist the Ministry in developing policies and plans to better serve the population.

The survey on the effects of COVID-19 on diet, exercise and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension is being conducted via telephone by a team of trained personnel.

The survey on Universal Health Coverage will be conducted online.

Students of the Gros islet Primary School can now pick from a wider selection of books from their library as Hands Across the Sea and CIBC Saint Lucia collaborate and officially hand over educational resources to the school.