Minister of Social Development, Stephen Blackett, received the Cuban Ambassador, Francisco Fernandez, to evaluate ideas in a technical assistance project for which Barbados would be provided with a national plan to tackle Alzheimer's is based. Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, the President of the Alzheimer Society of Barbados, Pamelia Brereton, and other specialists, the Minister received the document with the proposal that was prepared by Dr. Juan Llibre, president of the Cuban Section of Alzheimer's disease, conclude the Second Caribbean Regional Conference that addressed the social consequences of this complex disease and other mental illnesses such as dementia.
The purposes of collaboration can be summarized in: the design of a door-to-door epidemiological study to show the magnitude of the dementias and the impact on families; the joint implementation of an intervention program aimed at diagnosed cases and their families. To this end two Cuban specialists may be deployed on the ground for a month, together with specialists from the Ministry of Health of Barbados and the Barbados Alzheimer's Association in order to: design the Study; determine the instruments to be applied for the diagnosis; conduct the risks factors study; carry out the sampling for selecting the population aged 65 and over to be visited; and prepare an intervention program for diagnosed cases.
If approved, after being subjected to analysis together with Barbadian health authorities, the project may be executed by a triangular cooperation scheme, which will have the financial support by the PAHO Regional Office for the Caribbean