The Ministry of Health and Wellness is seeking to enhance its response to the ballooning non-communicable diseases (NCDs) problem in Jamaica, with the launch of its knowledge, attitude and practice study of local salt consumption.
“Evidence has shown that a number of health conditions are caused or exacerbated by a high-salt diet. Although the effect on blood pressure, stroke and heart disease is where the strongest evidence lies, there is a wide body of evidence showing a link between salt consumption and other conditions,” noted Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton.
He was speaking at the Tuesday, July 13 event to announce the start of the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice study.
“Salt has been linked to cardiovascular disease (stroke, heart disease and heart failure), kidney disease and kidney stones, obesity, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and water retention,” the Minister added.
At the same time, the cost of hypertension to the island is significant, accounting for some 27.6 per cent of the total subsidy payment of $5.63 billion for 2020/2021, according to the National Health Fund.
The study, which is being carried out in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Health Research, is to obtain baseline data on salt consumption and salt content in packaged and restaurant foods, in addition to evaluating the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Jamaicans regarding salt.
Its value is underscored by the prevailing data on NCDs in Jamaica, including that one in three persons have hypertension while only four of every 10 with the illness are aware of their status. Further, one in two Jamaicans are overweight or obese, which is a risk factor for developing an NCD, such as hypertension.
Minister Tufton also used Tuesday’s event to remind the public of other efforts to control the NCDs epidemic, including the introduction of front-of-package labelling.
“As part of our efforts to respond to the findings from studies and provide policies which can address the consumption of unhealthy foods among Jamaicans, we are developing front-of-package labelling regulations, which will ensure that manufacturers provide important information about excess nutrients in their products. This is a CARICOM initiative, which is in line with food regulation practices globally,” he noted.
“A number of countries requires manufacturers of packaged foods to provide warning labels to help consumers identify foods with harmful levels of salts, fats and sugar, with the latest country being Mexico, one of the largest trading partners in goods with the United States of America. These warning labels aim to correct information asymmetries – a form of market failure – and ensure that our consumers are able to make healthier food choices,” the Minister added.