Video: Minister Wilson Press Conference

[Updated] Minister of Health Kim Wilson is holding a press conference today [Nov 8] to “discuss various Ministry of Health initiatives outlined in the Throne Speech.” We will have additional information later on, and in the meantime the live video is below.

The 21-minute live video replay is below:

Update Nov 8, 12.40pm: The Minister’s full statement follows below:

Achieving healthy people in healthy communities requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach beyond individual well-being to address the broader factors that affect our health in society and the environment.

It entails promoting physical fitness, disease prevention, and creating inclusive, safe, and supportive environments that foster mental and social well-being. As reported in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Report, non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, cancer and dementia are leading causes of death in Bermuda, to which diabetes and chronic kidney disease can be added as leading causes of ill health.

The Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring equitable access to quality, affordable healthcare in our communities. This is our top priority. Aligned with the central theme of this year’s Throne Speech, “Serving the People,” we have outlined some vital initiatives, with our primary focus being on collecting health system data that will inform evidence-based policies and interventions.

Our current data collection efforts are insufficient for fully assessing our present and future healthcare and social care needs and informing sound decision-making. This became evident through the development of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment [JSNA] earlier this year. However, moving forward, we are committed to enhancing our data collection, with a specific focus on gathering crucial information that assists the Ministry with a better understanding of where we need to enhance our services and, ultimately, how we can make healthcare more efficient and cost-effective for both businesses and consumers.

Building on the success of the Bermuda Health Council’s Provider Advantage Programme, which is a voluntary programme, the Ministry and the Council are working with health service providers to expand health business licensing. The result will be vastly improved information on all the health services available in Bermuda. This is a basic starting point in our data collection efforts.

Also, the Ministry will advance legislation that supports the collection of data required to regulate medical co-payments for the most vulnerable individuals in our community. Prevention, and early detection and treatment of disease can lead to better health outcomes, but the cost of healthcare services discourages people from seeing their doctor.

For our seniors, being on a fixed income can be especially challenging. It can result in delayed or no care. Healthcare inflation exacerbates the cost of care. The purpose of legislation to support data collection is to understand the factors influencing healthcare costs so that the medical co-pay can be made predictable and manageable for our most vulnerable residents. In all respects, the collection of accurate data is key to informed decision-making.

Also, in this year’s Throne Speech, the former Chief Medical Officer was cited regarding health disparities in Bermuda. Dr. Oyinloye emphasised the significance of addressing health inequalities, with a specific focus on the four primary risk factors associated with prevalent chronic diseases: tobacco consumption, excessive alcohol consumption, inadequate nutrition, and lack of physical activity. Dr. Oyinloye stated: “In Bermuda, there is a lack of robust population-wide data that links the prevalence of these risk factors with socioeconomic data. There is evidently a requirement for further evidence-based policies to address these risk factors, particularly for the most deprived, who are likely to be at greatest risk.”

We know that evidence-based policies and interventions can, over time, help to reduce the burden of chronic diseases in our community. As such, the Ministry of Health will undertake the STEPS 2024 population health survey. STEPS surveys offer a solid foundation of evidence concerning our critical public health concerns, particularly in the realm of preventing and managing chronic non-communicable illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and specific types of cancers.

Additionally, these surveys provide a means to monitor the trends and extent of factors that either increase or safeguard our overall health within the general populace. This is achieved by examining various behavioural elements, including dietary habits, physical activity levels, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage, and access to healthcare services, including screening opportunities.

By developing and focusing on evidence-based policies and interventions, the Ministry of Health aims to reduce the burden of chronic diseases in our community, leading to better public health outcomes and improved quality of life for the population. Lastly, the Ministry of Health remains committed to achieving Universal Health Coverage to ensure all residents have access to quality, affordable healthcare services when they need them without financial hardship.

In the year ahead, the UHC Programme will pursue some important goals. To start, in collaboration with healthcare stakeholders, we will determine the healthcare services to be included in the core benefits package for all. That is the package of healthcare services which all residents will be able to access. We will also figure out how much the services will cost. We will explore various ways to make these vital healthcare services available to everyone in a sustainable way, while also evaluating how our options will impact the economy.

Before I close today, I want to restate that the need for strengthening Bermuda’s overall healthcare system is crucial. It is essential to improving our health outcomes, increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the system, and experiencing quality, affordable healthcare. Our healthcare system comes at a high cost that is not reflected by our health outcomes, and that must change.

The Bermuda Health Strategy 2022-2027 supports the core vision of “healthy people in healthy communities”. It sets out eight strategic principles that are intended to set us on a new path towards an equitable, accessible, and sustainable health system for the island.

As a reminder, these principles are:

1. promoting healthy living and preventative care,
2. focusing on person-centred care,
3. understanding our population’s health needs,
4. providing access to healthcare coverage,
5. strengthening our healthcare workforce,
6. harnessing healthcare technology,
7. partnership and collaborative working, and
8. preventing wasteful care and promoting efficiency.

I am pleased to say that we are making significant progress toward advancing all eight strategic principles, which will pave the way for a stronger and sustainable health system in Bermuda. Our initiatives in the coming legislative session will enhance health outcomes as we continue to
work towards healthy people in a healthy community.

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