Gulliford M C
Commonwealth Caribbean Medical Research Council, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
J Public Health Med. 1994 Sep;16(3):263-9.
People of Caribbean origin form one of the United Kingdom's most important ethnic minority groups but health conditions in the West Indies are not well understood in the UK. This review outlines past and present health conditions in the West Indies and describes the system of health care and some of the problems it faces at present. The last 30 years have seen a transition from a pattern of high childhood mortality to high mortality from chronic non-communicable diseases in adult life. Over the last ten years the severity of economic conditions undermined this progress, with the threatened re-emergence of malnutrition and infectious diseases as important health problems. Although most people in the region have access to health care, the quality and outcomes of care may be compromised by financial constraints and an unresponsive management system. Adopting modern approaches to planning and managing the health system might be one path to improvement, one to which public health professionals could make a significant contribution.
加勒比裔人群是英国最重要的少数族裔群体之一，但英国对西印度群岛的健康状况了解不足。本综述概述了西印度群岛过去和现在的健康状况，描述了医疗保健系统及其目前面临的一些问题。过去30年见证了从儿童高死亡率模式向成年期慢性非传染性疾病高死亡率模式的转变。在过去十年中，经济状况的严峻性破坏了这一进展，营养不良和传染病有再度成为重要健康问题的风险。尽管该地区大多数人都能获得医疗保健，但护理质量和结果可能会受到资金限制和反应迟钝的管理系统的影响。采用现代方法规划和管理卫生系统可能是改善的一条途径，公共卫生专业人员可以为此做出重大贡献。
