KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, says Jamaica has a “sick profile that is alarming and getting worse”.

The sick profile is characterised by a significant portion of the population suffering from one or more non-communicable disease, or a significant risk factor, such as obesity, high cholesterol or physical inactivity.

“We all can do more to correct this,” Tufton said Tuesday during his contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives.

“Many are unaware, some may not even care, but in the end, it affects all of us in the shared burden of healthcare costs,” said Tufton.

He pointed to the 2016/2017 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey which indicated that one in three people aged 15 years and older was hypertensive, one in eight had diabetes and one in two was obese or overweight.

“Approximately eight out of 10 Jamaicans had low levels of physical activity. These are trends borne primarily out of historical lifestyle practices and it will take time and a number of policy prescriptions to curb these trends,” the minister stated.

Tufton also highlighted the cost to treat NCDs on both the state and the individual. He warned that the economics or sustainability of this public health response cannot be solely to put more money into curative measures, into prescription drugs.

“We will never have enough,” he declared.

The minister said a close look at the budget of the National Health Fund (NHF) shows that costs have escalated by 139 per cent from $4.6 billion in financial year 2015/16 to $15 billion in financial year 21/22 (adjusted for COVID-19).

Tufton said the projections for the next three years suggest further increases of approximately 30 per cent.

“At this rate of demand and cost increases to treat over 720,000 Jamaicans, served by the NHF, this critical entity will need approximately $40 billion over the next three years or risk being unable to address the needs of Jamaicans suffering from some sort of illness.

“Sick Jamaicans from lifestyle practices feature prominently in these escalating costs,” Tufton said.

Citing examples, Tufton pointed out that in 2020/2021, the NHF spent $1.275 billion on hypertension compared to $940 million over the 2014/2015 period.

In 2020/2021, the organization spent $1.4 billion on diabetes compared to $887 million in 2014/2015, a 59 per cent increase.

“Rising health costs are not just hitting us as a collective – as taxpayers, but also as individual householders, eroding our disposable income. The economic impact of rising costs is devastating,” Tufton said.

He also pointed out that over the 2020/2021 period, Jamaicans spent nearly $2.4 billion in NHF copayments on drugs to treat high blood pressure compared to $1.46 billion for the 2014/2015 period – a 62 per cent increase.

He said Jamaicans also spent a staggering $1.57 billion on drugs for diabetes for the 2020/2021 period when compared to nearly $863 million for the 2014/2015 period. This represents an increase of 82.6 per cent.

“There is a real need to think about how we can reduce these costs for Jamaicans who are at risk of impoverishment due to ill health and the associated costs,” Tufton said.