World Health Organisation

The event in Bassetterre was presented in conjunction with more than 1,300 cities around the world, all advocating the most effective government policies, interventions and best local practices to make urban areas healthy places to live. An April 6 statement released by the office of the United Nations Secretary-General noted that for the first time in history, more people were living in cities and towns than in rural areas, a fact reflected by each municipality's public health system.

"The theme this year really speaks to the public health consequences of urbanization," said Dr. Hazel Williams-Roberts, Director of Community Based Health Services. "You have a crowding out of the physical space so that people cannot exercise as readily. You also have people eating on the go, and consuming more fast food. So that is why we picked for today's activities to have a Healthy Boulevard showcasing the two most important pillars of a healthy lifestyle; namely, increasing your physical activity and increasing your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

"So what we've planned is a Farmer's Market which gives farmers an opportunity to showcase their fresh local fruits and vegetables, and associated products. … In the other section we plan to have physical activities displayed. Some people are put off when we speak to them about physical activity because they automatically think about traditional exercises like lifting weights, so we want to show them a variety of other activities that they could consider."

Some of the referred to physical activities, demonstrated with the help of local youth, were cheerleading, Boys on Bikes, Taekwando, Karate, and a skipping troupe that provided pointers on how to properly engage in that important form of exercise.

When asked about other all-inclusive public health related events held during the year, in the interest of consistently promoting physical well-being and good fitness, Dr. Williams-Roberts responded that to the best of her knowledge the only other one was Caribbean Wellness Day, celebrated annually in September.

Noting that while local vendors usually felt that staging an event blocking off vehicle traffic on Fort Street interfered with their businesses, she emphasized the importance of holding it in an urban setting, as well as in making it available to a larger audience of people, adding that no nuisance was intended. The event drew large crowds throughout the day, boosting area foot traffic.

"You walk a thin line of balancing the health agenda with the greater agenda of other persons," explained Dr. Williams-Roberts.

The Healthy Boulevard initiative was organized in concurrence with the Department of Agriculture, and featured fresh samples of local produce offered for sale.

Local vendors who spoke with The Observer were generally pleased with the level of interest shown, and in the sales of vegetables and fruits generated during the event. In many cases, the produce samples were displayed alongside printed sheets that showed onlookers the nutritional content for each tomato, squash, coconut, pepper and other available food products.

Underlining the importance of stressing urban health, the many cities around the globe who participated in the April 7 World Health Day event did so under the World Health Organisation's "1000 cities - 1000 lives" campaign. The worldwide promotion accentuated the fact that the effort to make cities healthier required sound policies across all areas of government, in addition to facilitating health awareness among every sector of society.