CMO to lay foundations to improve public health
(CNS): The new chief medical officer for the Cayman Islands, Dr Nick Gent, has been in office for two weeks, and according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, he will be focusing on public health. Dr Gent has made several media appearances to promote the COVID-19 and flu vaccines and booster shots since arriving and to outline the lessons that have been learned from the coronavirus pandemic. As Cayman transitions to living safely and responsibly with COVID-19, Gent wants to make sure those lessons are not forgotten.
He said his main duty as CMO was to help the ministry and Cabinet “develop good, evidence-based public health policy that will withstand the next ten to twenty years”, laying a foundation that will last beyond his three-year tenure.
The release noted that strengthening public health nationally is a priority for the ministry and this would be achieved by strengthening local epidemiology services, acquiring data to determine the actual state of health of the population and setting up systems to ensure continuous monitoring of that information. The introduction of data-driven interventions and programming will help improve the lives and wellness of Caymanians and residents and get “the core of public health right”.
“When we talk about the core of public health, we are talking about high immunisation rates, good screening rates, healthy lifestyle and good clinical care access. We need to take stock of where we are and make sure that the basics are right,” Dr Gent added.
Health Minister Sabrina Turner, who introduced the new CMO to Cabinet on 18 October, said, “Having Dr Gent on the team is an exciting milestone for us at the Ministry of Health and Wellness as we continue to reach our strategic broad outcomes and the big project of improving and strengthening public health nationally.”
According to officials, Gent suffered a bout of ill health before he took up the top job. Doing the rounds on the media shows during his first week, Gent stressed that COVID had not gone away and it can still be a fatal disease, as he urged people to get vaccinated or boosted to prevent severe infection.
While Cayman is only reporting COVID fatalities and hospitalisations, the virus continues to circulate in the community. And as Cayman moves into the high tourism season and infection levels around the world increase, there are concerns that there could be another surge of infections here as the collective immunity declines, given the low take-up of booster doses.
According to this month’s Public Health Spotlight, which was published on 6 October reflecting figures from the end of September, less than 4% of the population has had a second booster shot. The HSA is now rolling out a new booster campaign for the Moderna vaccine, which targets the original COVID-19 strains as well as the highly infectious Omicron variants.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
The CMO should’ve focused his speech on improving public education in Cayman. That alone will assist in improving healthcare.
☢️Improper hazardous waste disposal is hazardous for human bodies. Radioactive, pharmaceutical, infectious, medical waste disposal is not regulated in Cayman. Radiation Safety Act does not exist.
🗑Disposal methods are antiquated, I am guessing here, for in the last 15 years(at least) there were not single article, an investigation of how exactly the above mentioned waste is disposed.
Who is in charge, who monitors the process, is there The Process? and since there’s no regulation, no standards to adhere to, there’s no enforcement.
🔒🔒🔒Is it a secret kept behind seven locks? I bet if the truth is revealed, mass exodus would follow.
So spare us the usual dogmas about improving public health. Improvements don’t start in a doctor’ office. It starts with healthy environment-air,water, locally grown and produced food, easy access to safe outdoor recreational facilities.
welcome Dr Gent. There is an excellent Stregic Plan for Health developed in 2012. There are compartmentalised implementation of the objectives.If Action plans to achieve the objectives are developed and implemented taking public opinion as shown in comments we will have excellent healthy population.so far Public health to some extent laged behind as it was an integral part of HSA whose objective is to generate income to meet its expenditure while Public health objective is preventing illness ,promoting good health and offer primary care as National responsibility to offer health protection and early treatment to prevent progression of illness whereas a health care provider is interested to generate income to meet expenditures and make profit, to have increased remunerations irrespective of HSA or private institution.When HSA increases salaries, or more staff,they need to increase income that increases insurance premiums or CIMICO operational cost borne by Govt.Some radical steps need to be taken.
Best wishes to Dr Gent and Hon Sabrina.
Great comment, 8:44. Could be captioned “WTF?”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-25/new-boosters-from-moderna-and-pfizer-aren-t-better-than-old-ones-study-shows
Bivalent booster shots from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. failed to raise levels of protective proteins called neutralizing antibodies against the dominant omicron strains any more than four doses of the original Covid vaccine, according to an early independent study on a small group of people.
Researchers at Columbia University and the University of Michigan compared levels of neutralizing antibodies in blood samples from 21 people who got a fourth shot of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech SE bivalent boosters against antibody levels in 19 people who got four shots of the original vaccines.
Three to five weeks after a fourth shot, those people who received the new boosters aimed at BA.4 and BA.5 variants “had similar neutralizing antibody titers as those receiving a fourth monovalent mRNA vaccine,” the authors conclude in a manuscript posted on the preprint server bioRxiv.org. This held true for antibodies that protect against BA.4, BA.5 and older variants such as the original omicron strain, according to the study.
Can we please have free healthcare for the over 60’s who aren’t working. Trying to afford the medical insurance premiums at this age is just crippling, and then on top there is the deductible, the co-pay, and all of the bills that then come on top when the maximum limit for things has been reached. $1000 max for diagnostic testing in a year is a joke!
Or free medical screening once a year for people in at risk groups – i.e. free pap smears and mammograms for women between 50 and 65. Free prostate and cholesterol checks for men over 50 etc.
Early detection saves a lot of expensive treatment and heartache later.
I see health and medical issues as the greatest issue facing our society today.
You can thank Anthony Eden for that. He was responsible for the introduction of Cinico and let private insurances focus on profit.
CNS: When CINICO was introduced, the health minister was Gilbert McLean.
And having a, for profit, hospital in Eastend, also does not really help the case of free healthcare for who, that can’t afford.
Our society is based on the american model, thanks to Reagan, meaning, if you cant afford it, then, bad luck.
The european model is based on we all pitch in depending on your income, but in america and here its called socialism. And that seems to be bad.
Added the fundamentalist’s christian, naïve population and there you have it. A perfect environment for greedy insurance companies to take advantage of it.
Now, don’t bother to complain about so called waiting lists, because that is BS. No care is always worse than having to wait. Though as an european , i never experienced a waiting list. That’s made up by republicans.
Wait lists in the NHS are terrible and always have been, 7:38. That’s not to say the American model that we also have here is good. It isn’t, it’s terrible…..apart from the the fact there usually is no waiting time, its main virtue.
What is wrong with the “American system”? If you have healthcare insurance, you get great healthcare. You want socialized medicine, you get crap. That is virtually a natural law. I have great healthcare in the US. What exactly is the problem you find? Of course, it is expensive, but it is even more expensive here. CINICO healthcare is non-existent and you have to pay an arm and a leg each month for health insurance that has any good coverage.
It’s good to see CNS get upfront about your socialist opinions.
CNS: To clarify because you appear confused: I inserted a single sentence to correct the commenter about who was health minister, a point of fact. The rest of the comment was the OP, just as the rest of this comment is yours.
The comments about locals are a little elitist if not r……, but whatever. I do think you are wrong about wait lists at the NHS. They are reported in the UK news almost daily. Having to wait equates to no care unless you manage not to get materially sicker before your appointment. In the US we have Medicare for the old and Medicaid for the poor, our token foray into socialized medicine, and appointments are assigned the same as private insurance. Nothing beats cold cash or an Amex card, in either country, to get an immediate response (speaking from personal experience.)
Can we have some community activities for the over 50s please? Health and fitness shouldn’t only be for the skinny rich lawyers in their 30’s going to posh yoga centres. If you really want to make a difference to the healthy lifestyles of people living in Cayman, offer free or affordable group exercise classes in the civic centres around the island, free weight managemgent groups and clinics, and more outdoor activities that retired people can take part in without burning up in the sun.
How about community education classes for people to socialise during the day and make new friends. Loneliness here is a real problem for the older folks because they can’t afford to socialise at restaurants and bars, or do expensive activities.
How about some art classes, healthy cooking classes, yoga for the elderly, fun dance groups, etc. all for $5 a time or less. Let’s spend some of that government surplus on those who gave so much to the community all their working lives and now need support in these expensive times.
It would be great if he could make some progress on smoking, vaping, and enforcement of the Tobacco Law from 2008. Most public places seem to ignore the law, or provide smoking ash trays as if the laws were never written. Time’s up on smoking,
He!thy eating here is very hard for the average joe.
Healthy food here = empty wallets.
Type 2 diabetes is a choice. Most choose to have it unfortunately as they love local food too much and suffer in health issues most of their lives
Ok Dr. ELvis!
So is ignorance- as a matter of fact it is highly contagious.
Nothing to do with local food, which is healthy. If you choose to eat a diet that is not well balanced or to overeat, then it is not about local food. Local food is great. I wonder what other type of food you recommend?
Dear Dr. Gent- welcome to the Cayman Islands! I have a request to make – please hire another Nephrologist to help out Dr. Nelson. He is doing his best, a very kind doctor but I am afraid that he cannot keep up with the care that the hundreds residents who are suffering with diabetes requires. By now you are probably aware that your Minister of Health lacks the knowledge and expertise that the position requires so please tread gently ( no pun intended). In fact very few of the Ministers do. When they don’t comprehend they will bully you and turn on you horribly.
To the members of the public who will come up with their condemnations about ” not eating right and not exercising please try to understand that that is correct but does not apply to everyone. Diabetes is also a disease that is part of the DNA of certain persons,. I am a senior, weighing barely 120 pounds, have always tried to eat as healthy as possible and , exercise on a regular basis, always busy in my gardens and I have had diabetes for the last 25 years.
Blessings and good luck.
A concerned resident.
There are two approved Bivalent Moderna Covid boosters. The one we have targets COVID classic (wuhan circa Dec 2019), and Omicron 1 (circa early 2022). The other version targets Omicron 5, which is dominant strain now. Let’s get the latter one please.
please let us have more community leisure facilities, and exercise opportunities that are affordable for those on lower incomes. exactly the people who need it most. And let us have tax free import of healthy foods and greater taxes on unhealthy foods.
Confusing sick care with health care. Apples and oranges.
How about don’t care?
Sorry, “high immunisation rates, good screening rates, healthy lifestyle and good clinical care access“ won’t prevent illnesses and diseases. The land, sea, flora and fauna on this rock is toxic to its core AND is the main cause of health problems. Lipstick on the Dump accomplishes absolutely nothing. Absence of safe and shaded walking, biking trails is another contributor to poor health. I believe Cayman is the only tropical territory that doesn’t understand the importance of SHADED OUTDOOR recreational facilities- walkways, trails, fitness equipment.
Lastly, disappearing public beaches…
But not drinking all desalination water served in 30 year old PVC? Gotcha.
Great point. Thank you.
Too late. PH is already the new KGHospital
with 6$ an hour and current cost of living, you can eat healthy.
Excuses, excuses…
Great photo, looks like the poor fella has just finished his first meeting with our esteemed leaders and come to the realization of exactly what lies ahead…..
26 @ 8:44am — perhaps he caught a glimpse of the HSA Chairman’s cow cod?