CAC Partnering With MDAs on Health and Financial Wellness Campaign

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) is, this year, partnering with several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on a health and financial wellness public education campaign.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dolsie Allen, says the CAC will be collaborating with the Ministry of Health, Heart Foundation of Jamaica, and National Food Industry Task Force to educate consumers on ways to maintain healthy habits.

“Our focus for this year is based on the areas that we know affect consumers… based on our own information, and the direction that the Government is going. We are working along with these Agencies and Ministries to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and ensure that there is a multi-agency approach as it relates to our health and environment,” she explains.

She was speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank forum at the Agency’s head office in Kingston on March 8.

Mrs. Allen said the CAC’s role in overall drive to reduce NCDs will entail providing accurate information to enable individuals to make appropriate choices.

“We conduct surveys over time, where, we have information on the prices and nutritional value of food items, available on our website. The information is colour-coded, so citizens will know which food to consume cautiously, what food you can have abundantly and some that you should have sparingly or none at all,” she outlined.

The CEO also indicated that consumer financial education is also a high priority for the CAC.

“It is important to be good financial managers and, very often, our consumers have deficiencies in that area. So we will be informing [them] on how best to manage their resources and how they can earn more on what they have,” Mrs Allen emphasised.

The CAC will be commemorating World Consumer Rights Day 2019 on Friday, March 15, with several activities islandwide, including presentations and exhibitions at parish libraries and several educational institutions.