 The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, joined in the movement of raising awareness and promoting activities aimed at addressing non-communicable diseases, following a Caribbean Wellness Day festival held in the William Peter Bolvan. The activity focused on the showcase of ways in which individuals can engage in healthy lifestyles such as eating healthy, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, being physically active, and getting regular health checks to name a few. Senior Medical Officer for Non-communicable Diseases and CD's Dr. Shana Sarah Filbert spoke on the need to work together to reduce the threat posed by chronic non-communicable diseases. She believes celebrating Caribbean Wellness Day provides a great avenue to engage the population in taking action to tackle these diseases. We face the reality of the great need that we have for wellness. Wellness of the mind, the body, and the soul. We are forced today to focus on the impacts of unwellness and the impacts of allowing it to run wild. The Caribbean Wellness Day is a day when we change our focus, when we plan and collaborate to fight our biggest enemies, disease and death. Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Jenny Daniels says commemorating Caribbean Wellness Day is the start of a journey towards ensuring the overall wellness of citizens. That the Ministry is committed to placing wellness high on the agenda as we continue to rebuild the health system in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry will also seek to establish the necessary synergies between other private and public sector agencies in order to influence or drive policies that promote wellness within the various institutions in society. Minister for Health, the Honourable Moses Javatis, reaffirmed his government's commitment to leading the country in the right direction towards entity prevention and control. As a country, we embark on health policies which will improve access to affordable and essential healthcare for all. Our health system strengthening policy aims to improve both the human resource and infrastructure needs of our health system. The World Bank project through the performance-based financing scheme will allow for improved screening of our population and allow for access to essential medicines and lab tests without putting additional burden on the finances of individuals. We are working with our educators to implement school nutritional policies that will ensure school-age children are allowed the right to eat healthy foods. The Caribbean Wellness Day Festival included health discussions, hula hoop session, football dribble, health education and screening, jump rope session and soccer fit session among other activities. Reporting from the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, I am Funal Neptun.