• Latest
Men’s Health A Priority For Ministry of Health

Men’s Health A Priority For Ministry of Health

7 years ago
Higher Gas Prices for March 2014

Higher gas prices for January 2021

7 hours ago
Dr Jonathan Noël received Covid-19 vaccine without any major side effects

Dr Jonathan Noël received Covid-19 vaccine without any major side effects

11 hours ago
GIZ Vacancy: Junior Technical Advisor

GIZ RfP: Legal advisory service for Water Resources Management Unit (WRMU)

11 hours ago
“Groove’’ is Calypso’s best chance of going international like Reggae

Honour Grenada’s heroes and heroines

12 hours ago
MOH launches Covid-19 Vaccination Population Survey

MOH launches Covid-19 Vaccination Population Survey

2 days ago
Bulb exchange project to benefit Rural Community

PM Mitchell: Benefits from Grenlec sale will not be overnight

3 days ago
Police Investigation into Mental Institution Death

Mt Gay resident “raped and pregnant” by staff

3 days ago
Opposition Leader recommends his 3rd senator 

Opposition Leader recommends his 3rd senator 

3 days ago

Clement: DeAllie violating Parliamentary procedure by continuing to serve on PAC

3 days ago
Rastafarian family reserves right to refuse Covid-19 vaccination 

Rastafarian family reserves right to refuse Covid-19 vaccination 

3 days ago
Quarantine Point Recreational Park revised hours

Quarantine Point Recreational Park revised hours

3 days ago
Fisheries Division cautions re shark sightings in neighbouring islands

Fisheries Division cautions re shark sightings in neighbouring islands

4 days ago
NOW Grenada

Main Header Ad 468x60

booked.net
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Article Header

Men’s Health A Priority For Ministry of Health

This story was posted 7 years ago
12 May 2014
in Health
4 min. read
Dr Francis Martin, Ministry of Health
Share

By Roslyn A Douglas, MA
Founder of Central Health-Grenada

Statistics released by the Ministry of Health indicate that more Grenadian men than women are dying from chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. As such, men’s health has become a major concern and a priority for the Ministry of Health.

Efforts ranging from evaluating surveys, conducting training sessions for healthcare professionals and community-focused health education sessions began last year, with plans to continue throughout 2014.

Dr Francis Martin, Director Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health
Dr Francis Martin, Director Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health

Director of Primary Health Care, Dr Francis Martin summarised an analysis of the causes of death in Grenada over a 10 year period, which revealed men are dying more than women from many of the chronic illnesses. “We have looked at the data, the mortality data over the past 10 years and put those data together in one graph. And what those data together in one graph shows is that [out of] the 10 leading causes of death in Grenada, the most in terms of share quantity is cancers. Cancers are the leading cause of death in Grenada, and on the heels of that are cerebrovascular diseases. So you are talking about strokes, heart attacks and what have you. Pulmonary disease is next and metabolic disease which is like complications of diabetes, comes in fourth.”

Although cancers are the number one cause of death in the 10 year analysis, overall in many of the other diseases, Grenadian men are dying more than women, “So the cancers, the cardiovascular diseases like strokes and heart attack and so on and the diabetes and respiratory problem are leading at the top. And of those leading at the top men are actually leading ladies in those as well, except in the case of some metabolic diseases that has to do with ovarian issues, hormonal issues, and thyroid issues,” said Dr Martin.

To determine the cause of the number of male deaths, the Ministry of Heath reviewed surveys and studies conducted on men regarding their health. The results showed that lack of accessibility, concerns about confidentiality and lack of targeted education were reasons why some men do not seek health care.

“One of the things men said was, because the health centres only open for a certain amount of hours during the day, the time at which they are at work, they are not able to access care. And so what we have done in terms of the Primary Health Care, one of the first things we did was to extend the opening hours of the major health centers, and so men now can access care after 4pm. Since the extended hours were implemented, feedback shows that the health centers are being utilised more in the evening than in the day; which is wonderful news. If this is a sign of what’s to come, then this is an exciting time for Primary Health Care in our country,” said Dr Martin.

Another indicator that surfaced as a reason why men appear apathetic towards their health is lack of education. “The second thing that men indicated was they felt as though the main thrust of the health care programmes were not put together and directed towards men. It was more so towards women and children,” said Dr Martin.

He went onto say that over the past few decades, health systems in the Eastern Caribbean and other parts of the world focus on women and children. These efforts have resulted in reducing maternal and mortality rates, however at the same time focus on men has fallen behind.

“So because of that, one of the pillars of our Primary Health Care programme is what we called community outreach, where we can focus on vulnerable groups. We have already started one of those is called the Men’s Health Outreach. We actually advertise [and] mobilise some men for one afternoon and we go out and do screenings, blood pressure, blood sugar, blood testing for prostate and all sorts of things.” Martin enthusiastically added, “So in the next few months and certainly within the next few years to my mind that is the kind of strategic position we will be taking. Trying to find the vulnerable groups and putting together programmes specifically for those groups.”

In a separate interview, although there are a number of health clinics around the island, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health Aaron Francois stated another reason why men do not seek medical assistance is due to concern about a breach in confidentiality. “What we found out is that in a lot of the cases, men are very reluctant to attend or to visit health practitioners, whether it is a medical centre, or a doctor. Men tend to wait very late, when their situation becomes desperate, to visit the doctor.”

PS Francois went on to say in extreme cases some men chose to go to a clinic that is not even within their own community. “You would find, assuming a man goes to one of our centres and based on the situation, based on what the complaint is, [that] he would not want the issue to be divulged to the wider community. So you would find that a man would leave his [local] centre and go to another centre for attendance.”

To address this issue PS Francois said that the Ministry of Health has communicated this concern to practitioners with the intent to make the environment more comfortable for men.

 

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.

Tags: chroniceducationfrancis martinhealthmalemenprimary
Next Post
Now We Awaiting The First Budget

Where Are We Heading?

Comment on story Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Home Sidebar NP 300x250

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved
Published by Aqua Design Inc.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

NOW Grenada
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.