Business View Caribbean June 2023

9 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 10, ISSUE 6 OPENING L INES Dominica’s Health Minister Highlights Addressing NCDs At World Health Assembly source: Caribbeannewsnow.com,news editor, First Published May 31, 2023 Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the arch-enemy of development and the world should execute swift responses to combat its threats to health. This is according to Dominica’s health minister Cassanni Laville, who attended the 76th Annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland under the theme: “WHO at 75: Saving lives, driving health for all.” Laville said that NCDs “continue to pose a direct threat to socioeconomic development” and may even become an emerging global health threat. NCDs are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, the Pan American Health Organization said. “We commit to resetting our healthcare system with more focus on primary and integrated healthcare to better address emerging realities,” Laville said. “NCDs continue to take prominence, claiming 41 million lives annually, compared to almost 7 million deaths in total from the entire Covid-19 Pandemic.”