NCDs

October was celebrated as breast cancer awareness month and it brought into focus the very long-standing and urgent matter of the effect of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the Jamaican, Caribbean and world population.

Although most deaths each year are from these diseases, I do not get the feeling that people generally take the issue serious enough.

At a recent event, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton indicated that it will cost the country more than $70 billion in the next 15 years to treat persons with NCDs.

I recently explained and referred to data as the 'new oil', and if we understand the true value of data and what it can do for health care then we would now know that there are boundless opportunities that we can carve out to improve service delivery, patient care and save lives.

Apart from tracking trends, deciphering where and when outbreaks may happen, medication being used by whom and in which geographic location, data provides a whole gamut of information we can use at a very personal level.

If, as a country, we are serious about improving the health of our population, there has to be a focus on technology-driven health literacy and access.

Technology can significantly enhance and promote health literacy, leading to improved behaviour necessary for better health outcomes.

With the growing use of the Internet by Jamaicans, wider cell phone usage and availability of affordable data plans, we have a real opportunity here.