Doctor bats for greater healthy living education in society

Noted general practitioner Dr Shane Alexis is urging service club members to do more to promote healthy living in their places of work, and the wider society.

"As you meet with your boards and team members, start thinking about what is happening with your health," he said. Dr Alexis noted many club projects were health-based, an indication that they saw the value of health.

"But now it's time to share it with others," he said, "You're educated enough to understand the issues that are being raised. But it's time to articulate some of that." Dr Alexis was speaking to the Rotary Club of Kingston on Thursday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel. He noted that 70 per cent of deaths in Jamaica are attributed to non-communicable diseases like hypertension. He said Jamaicans tend to worry more about getting robbed or killed without noticing closer dangers, like the food in their fridge.

"We only have about 11 per cent of our deaths related to gunshots and tragic accidents. And those are serious and preventable issues," he said.

"But at the same time a lot of non-communicable diseases, what we eat, how we live, obesity are also preventable in large part, or certainly can be controlled."