Moniz takes STEPS to check Bermuda's health

Remarks by:

The Minister Of Health & Environment

The Hon. Trevor Moniz JP, MP

on re-launch of the STEPS survey

January 14^th 2014

Good afternoon everyone,

And thank you for coming to today’s re-launch of STEPS to a Well Bermuda, a comprehensive population health survey.

I wish to begin by thanking all of the interviewers for your hard work thus far and for the commitment you have demonstrated out there ‘in the field’…I know all too well the daunting and sometimes challenging task of going house-to-house knocking on doors!

I wish to encourage you all to maintain the same commendable level of professionalism and enthusiasm you have demonstrated thus far as you re-enter the field in 2014…and to reemphasize that you are making a difference to the health of our island. The information you collect is vital to informing where resources should best be targeted and also for monitoring and evaluating the impact of any actions taken. To use a well-known quote, “Without knowledge, action is useless.”

I also wish to thank those residents who took part in the survey when called upon. Thank you for giving up your time and welcoming STEPS interviewers into your home. I am touched by the many stories I have heard of your hospitality and receptiveness. Your participation is key to the success of STEPS…just as an individual needs to have regular health checkups – so does a population. And population health surveys which contain physical measurements and biochemical assessments (such as STEPS) add substantially to the information about the state of health of a population.

Routinely collected mortality data estimates that over 60% of deaths in Bermuda are attributable to heart disease, cancer and diabetes alone. Global research also shows that up to 40% of cancers and up to 80% of heart diseases and Type 2 diabetes are preventable through risk factor modification.  The major modifiable behavioural risk factors for these diseases are unhealthy diet (low fruit and vegetable, high salt and sugar), physical inactivity and harmful tobacco and alcohol use. These behavioural risk factors also contribute to the major biological risk factors for these diseases including overweight and obesity, raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol and raised blood glucose.

STEPS to a Well Bermuda, which utilizes the Pan-American Health Organization’s STEPwise approach to chronic diseases risk factor surveillance aims, to collect data on these eight major risk factors and more. This is done through a series of questions (STEP 1) followed by simple physical measurements conducted in the selected participants’ household (STEP 2). These physical measurements include height and weight, waist circumference and blood pressure. Participants are then encouraged to attend a clinic for a finger-stick blood measurement to assess risk of diabetes and cholesterol levels (STEP 3).  Selected participants will also be encouraged to participate in either an oral health screening or an objective measurement of physical activity (STEPS 4a and b).

In essence, participation in STEPS to a Well Bermuda provides the participant with a FREE health screening, most of which is done in their own home, and the opportunity to contribute to the sound evidence base required to inform and evaluate local efforts to prevent and control chronic, non-communicable diseases in Bermuda.

STEPS to a Well Bermuda is being conducted in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and local public health partners including the Bermuda Hospitals Board and the Bermuda Diabetes Association.  It is also supported by Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre and Bermuda Heart Foundation.

In closing I would like to thank all of our partners who are working to make this study a success…and also to encourage members of the public that if you are one of the over 2000 persons selected to participate in STEPS to a Well Bermuda that you STEP UP to do your part for a Well Bermuda.

We have an experienced and well-trained team of surveyors out there in the field and I am confident of the success of STEPS.

Thank You.