Nutrition, health and wellness centre launched

The dream of a family member, who has now departed, has become a reality in the community of Pearl, East Bank Demerara (EBD) as Saturday marked the official launching and dedication of the Dr Moreen Bishop-Joseph and Kenrick Clenford Bishop Centre for Nutrition and Diabetes Education, Health and Wellness.
Being the first of its kind in the community, the centre was established with a goal to promote healthy lifestyles through innovative education programs, research and teaching initiatives, as well as collaborating with national and international institutions in order to produce measurable outcomes in reducing critical health issues in Guyana.
One of the many challenges Guyanese face health wise mainly involves the non-communicable disease (NCD)— diabetes— which has since become a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally, this is according to the centre’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Moreen Bishop-Joseph.
The overseas-based Doctor, in presenting an overview for the centre, explained that the initiative was undertaken after her late uncle, Kenrick Clenford Bishop, who made it his final request to her. Additionally, she noted the role of the centre is eliminating diabetes among other NCDs.
“I am here to establish a centre for nutrition and diabetes education, and this centre is not just a centre where someone would be sitting in there to listen and to help people, it’s a centre that would provide education, community outreach, teaching and research. Diabetes is a very serious disease, once you contract diabetes, it affects your kidneys, your heart, your blood pressure and it’s a certificate for a short life”.
Furthermore, an elated Bishop-Joseph has expressed willingness to collaborate with various academic institutions, Governmental agencies, and local communities as well health care organizations in keeping with the goal of the centre.
“I envision this centre growing and collaborating with the various ministries like Ministry of Education to provide education for every pupil…I envision a Guyana where we are a flagship country in this hemisphere when it comes to nutrition and health.”
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, who delivered brief remarks used the opportunity to extend congratulations to the CEO and members of the newly launched centre, while further indicating her readiness to work hand-in-hand with the facility.
“Many of the objectives which you have here goes in tandem with the vision-2020 of the Ministry of Public Health… I’m quite certain that in those collaborative efforts, the Ministry of Public Health-Food and Nutrition Department will be looking forward to working with you…because the data which you would have gathered will work very much for the Ministry of Public Health to help us to analyse the many issues we are facing,” she stated.
On that note, the Minister cited that NCDs account for over 50 per cent of deaths in Guyana, and further underscored that a large sum of the country’s budget goes towards supplying medical drugs to treat these diseases.
“It is well known that Guyana’s NCDs results in about 70 per cent of our deaths; so this is a big issue for us, a large amount of our budget is spent for drugs and medical supplies for addressing NCDs…and so this is going to become part of our 2020 vision that we’re working on…I do look forward to your partnership.” Minister Lawrence explained.
In addition, the centre also seeks to embark on the path of hosting lectures, workshops, open forums, and healthy cooking classes among other activates in order to promote healthy lifestyles in the community and other areas.
At the conclusion of the simple but significant ceremony, the Aurora Primary School was presented with a brand new laptop computer, as the first step in contributing to the home town of the CEO. Parties present at the ceremony were entertained by musical renditions and songs from both the Pearl Nursery School and the Supply Primary School.