Minister Prince maximises visit at Global Health and Welfare forum in Taiwan

by Kemarlie Durrant
in Taiwan

Minister of Health, Wellness, and the Environment, St. Clair ‘Jimmy’ Prince, was among health sector practitioners and officials who participated in the 20th anniversary of The Global Health and Welfare Forum, a key annual event that brings together global leaders to tackle critical health and welfare challenges.

This two-day forum in Taiwan, held on November 5 and 6, 2024, brought together leaders from around the world in research, policy, and practice. For the past two decades, the forum has served as a platform for addressing urgent global health issues and fostering collaboration, particularly among Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.

The forum has the potential to impact healthcare in St Vincent and the Grenadines(SVG), particularly in addressing pressing public health issues. In an interview, Minister highlighted how the forum can influence healthcare in SVG, and identified two main health challenges currently being faced. These are Non-communicable diseases (NCDs),and the migration of healthcare workers, especially nurses, to developed countries where their skills are in high demand. This situation, he said, has led to a shortage of trained healthcare professionals, making it difficult to meet the growing healthcare needs of the local population.

The Minister emphasized that the Global Health Forum provided an opportunity for SVG to look “at the issues it faces, collaborate with other countries, and learn from their experiences and innovations in tackling similar health challenges”.

He added that by engaging with experts from around the world, SVG can explore various strategies that have proven effective in managing NCDs and enhancing healthcare delivery.

“For instance, discussions around technological advancements in medicine, such as telemedicine, could offer valuable solutions to improve access to healthcare services in SVG.” Additionally, the Minister of Health noted that insights into diabetes and cancer treatment approaches in use in other nations could be adapted to better serve the local population.

The minister also mentioned that among the measures discussed during the forum were the importance of “education and health promotion” to help the public understand the
causes of these diseases and encourage personal responsibility for health. Additionally, while the country is still focusing on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, Prince stated that early collaboration with global partners is also necessary for the timely sharing of information for preparing and managing outbreaks effectively. When asked about the ongoing situation regarding mental health in the country, a topic also discussed during the forum, Prince highlighted the difficulty in attracting qualified psychiatrists to SVG but noted that his ministry is working to resolve this issue.

“At the same time, we’re trying to do work in the communities, where we bring the provision of mental health services to people rather than waiting for them to come to one central spot. So if we do a lot of that work at the primary health care level in the communities, we put less strain on the centre.”

Prince also spoke about the Acute Care Hospital, which is in its early stages of construction, and which is part of the Health Systems Improvement and Resilience Project that aims to modernize healthcare in the country.

“Accessibility and equity are some of the issues we are dealing with and which the hospital will address,”he pointed out.

The new facility will expand the range of specialities available, including neurology and cardiology, which were previously not adequately addressed at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. During his visit to Taiwan, Prince also visited hospitals in the cities of Taipei and Hsinchu where he spoke to officials as it relates to the continuous assistance in the health sector in SVG. He also attended the 2024 scholarship welcome party, where he had the opportunity to meet with the most recent group of 22 Vincentian students who were awarded scholarships to study in Taiwan.