| NHIP reports progress in national health issues | | Print | |
| Thursday, 21 October 2010 12:17 | |||
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October marks six months of operation of the National Health Insurance Plan, and the results are nothing to sneeze at. “For the first time we now have a benchmark for the health of the nation,” the National Health Insurance Board’s CEO Brian Hogan told the fp. Since the launch of the islands’ first national health insurance plan, NHIB has been collecting data on the health of the population. With claim records for every beneficiary being electronically archived and sophisticated computer programmes developed, NHIB is now able to generate reports at the click of a button. A snapshot of the health of the country is starting to come into focus, and some major issues are sticking out like a soar thumb. Initial data analysis indicates that chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes are widespread. “These are conditions where the first line of defense is modest changes to lifestyle like diet and exercise” said Hogan. Hogan and his team are using the valuable information to create a communication campaign aimed at helping people get practical information about what they can do to improve their health and take control of their lives. NHIB developed the “TCI Pathways to Health” campaign as a cornerstone of a communication and education programme to inform NHIB beneficiaries about chronic medical conditions and treatment options available through the NHIP, Hogan said. Working along with the Ministry of Health, InterHealth Canada, local and international medical providers, media outlets and non-governmental organizations, NHIB hopes to provide as much information as possible to the beneficiaries in order to improve the overall health of the country. Feedback from healthcare professionals who reviewed the data recommended that NHIB target chronic health conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes as well as cancer as the top health ailments affecting the population of the TCI. In just the first six months, the NHIP has recorded 21,636 filled prescriptions, with hypertension and diabetes drugs topping the list. Hogan is hoping to change this pattern by educating the public through a long-term “Pathways to Health” campaign. “So many chronic conditions are managed, but not cured,” he said. “We are working with the Ministry of Health and are willing to work with any other organisation that wants to help educate individuals so that we can manage the health of our nation.” NHIB has already started the campaign by sponsoring Radio Turks and Caicos/Ministry of Health’s Health Matters Radio programme twice a month during which they discuss the causes of a specific medical condition, how to detect the early signs of the condition and treatment options for each condition. “TCI is fortunate to have significant health resources on island and a group of experienced medical professionals within InterHealth Canada, Ministry of Health and the private medical community, supplemented by international resources through the Overseas Treatment benefits,” Hogan stated. The next step for the campaign is to produce the “Pathways to Health” video series as well as print media.
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