(Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris’ monthly health walks have, over the last few months, picked up momentum and have led to more and more residents and citizens taking greater interest in their health and wellbeing.
On Saturday, July 29, Prime Minister Harris led the largest contingent yet of participants on a health walk from the Basseterre Fire Station in Constituency Number One to the West Farm lawn in Constituency Number Three.
One of the participants in Saturday’s walk was Parliamentary Representative for Constituency One, the Honourable Ian Patches Liburd, who commended the prime minister on this initiative, which started in Constituency Number Seven ten years ago.
Minister Liburd, while boasting of his finish ahead of Prime Minister Harris, said this initiative is one that should be embraced by all, as it has at its core the promotion of solidarity and wellness among residents.
“When we were walking through one of the avenues…and you see the people and you could see the togetherness coming out. You see people looking on and saying ‘I really should have been there you know, this is a good thing.’ It is a good thing not just for the camaraderie but it is a good thing to really sell the word that your health is your wealth and we ought to all take part irrespective of what we feel. But coming together in this format is a commendable effort by the prime minister,” Minister Liburd stated.
The effort of Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris in promoting healthy living was also recognized by Senator the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, who also participated in Saturday’s event.
Senator Byron said it is evident that the prime minister’s message and hope for Kittitians and Nevisians to live healthier lifestyles are catching on as more and more citizens and residents are joining the monthly health walks.
“When we started first, I don’t think we expected that it would have grown to this magnitude and so every time we’ve done the walk now, especially outside the constituency [Number 7], it’s been growing bigger and bigger with this one still bigger than the one we had last time with a lot of new faces, and so we are very excited to see there are persons who are interested in coming out and are concerned about their health because at the end of the day, this is about creating healthy lifestyles and so we are very happy that persons are coming out and are enthusiastic about taking part in a walk such as this and hopefully this would turn into them even incorporating exercising and more healthy activities within their daily lives,” the senator added.
Prime Minister Harris, CARICOM’s lead Head on Human Resources, Health and HIV/AIDS, earlier said that increased physical activity is one of the four main factors that can help reduce the incidences of non- communicable diseases (NCDs). The other three factors are healthy diets, reduction in the use of tobacco and reduction in the use of alcohol.