Tobago sees alarming drop in birth rate, declines from 1,000 to 400

Trinidad and Tobago: Dr. Faith Brebnor, Health Secretary of Tobago, expressed serious concern over the drastic change in Tobago's birth rate during the launch event of the Health Hygiene Lounge on Friday, held on the ground floor of the Division of Health.

Dr. Brebnor, in her statement, said that, “We have been seeing a significant decline in Trinidad and Tobago’s birth rate, especially in Tobago over the past 5 to 10 years.” She further emphasised by putting a stress on the government and public, that we should “urgently deal with this drastic change, which will help us in the future to grow”.

She further said that “on an urgent basis we have to find the root cause of the reduction in the birth rate in Trinidad and Tobago”. Along with this she also said “there are many instances including social issues which are causing this problem and we have figured it out how to get a backup.”

According to Brebnor, the government and the House of Assembly of Tobago are working to identify the causes and implement the solutions which are going to be the best to overcome this problem.

“The House of Assembly is actively starting to implement the small projects which will help all the Tobagonians and which will support the families, because we truly have the vision” she said.

Megan Morrison, the assistant secretary of community development also expressed her vision at the launch event, including the Health Hygiene Lounge, which will be designed to dedicate and to promote menstrual health and breastfeeding support.

“The lounge will have two rooms, one is a Menstrual Health Room and another one is Breastfeeding Room, which will provide essential services and products to women and families.”

Along with that menstrual health room will also provide menstrual products to the staff of the division and  also the external clients based on the needs of the assessment. The breastfeeding room will offer a comfortable energy and space to all the mothers who breastfeed their child including all the pregnant women.

The Chief Secretary, Farley Augustine also weighed in on the issue while suggesting that the high cost of living at the moment may be a factor of the issue, with many youngsters are competent and  potentially making their economic decisions about having children.

He also emphasised that the birth rate has dramatically declined from 900 to 1,000 births per year to just over 400 only. He further urges the government to address the rising costs of essential goods and services, which may be influencing young people's decisions about starting a family.

The community are expressing their thoughts related to this matter through their social media posts while supporting the government in their initiative.