Statement By The Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley

Minister For Health And Social Development

At The Ninth Sitting Of The First Session Of The Fifth House Of Assembly Of The Virgin Islands

Tuesday, 5^th March 2024

Mindful Campaign

Madam Speaker, as the Minister for Health and Social Development, I pride myself on paying keen attention to the developments within my portfolio which advance the individual and community mental health of our people.

Madam Speaker, a few months ago I updated this Honourable House on the progress of the Mindful Campaign. This is an exciting pilot which ran during the latter half of 2023 with the aim of advancing mental health awareness in the Territory and combatting the stigma faced by those with lived experiences of mental health challenges. I have kept closely involved with this campaign and I am pleased to report that upon its conclusion, we were able to observe marked triumphs. When the report was shared with me I marveled at how much we had been able to accomplish.

I want to particularly express my pleasure with the work done with our children and young people. The mental health team executed a brilliant competition within our local primary and secondary schools that had them design mindfulness murals. I enjoyed a tour of these murals and beyond simply the creative genius demonstrated, even at the primary school level, I was thoroughly impressed by how much the children, and their teachers, had learned from participating.

Madam Speaker, I can report today that the success of the campaign is being recognized at an international level. Last week, Dr. Rubaine’s team shared with me that reports on the campaign had been favourably considered for inclusion at two international conferences with invitations to present offered in both instances. Madam Speaker, we have been thrust on to the international stage. The opportunity to present means that the report was considered significant enough to be engaged with by the foremost minds in the arenas of mental health, anti-stigma, and public health.

The first of the conferences is the Sixty-Eighth Annual Health Research Conference held by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Castries, St. Lucia in April followed by a summit held by the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) with the theme ‘Together Against Stigma’ in Reykjavík, Iceland at the beginning of June. I am actively seeking to ensure delegates attend these conferences; capitalizing on the opportunity for exposure and shared expertise and resources, and of course proudly showcasing the BVI’s success to the world.

Madam Speaker, once again I commend Dr. Rubaine and her incredible team at the Mental Health Services Unit of BVIHSA as well as their consultancy support firm O’Neal Alexander Consulting Group.  With my continued support, mental health will remain a foremost priority of the portfolio of health and social development through the extension of campaigns like this and other dynamic initiatives currently in the works. We will invest in a quality of preventative and remedial care that rivals global leaders in the space and our people will be stable, productive, and happy beyond measure.

Madam Speaker, I thank you.