Healthcare and insurance executives have warned that entrenched cultural attitudes among younger Barbadians are fuelling the island’s chronic disease crisis, urging earlier intervention and routine screening to reverse the trend.

They acknowledged that the greatest hurdle to altering the country’s health trajectory is not infrastructure, but a pervasive psychological aversion to routine medical check-ups.

Urgent Care Barbados co-founder and managing director Dr Bandele Majeks addressed the systemic hesitation head-on, noting that deep-seated fear frequently prevents individuals from seeking care until symptoms become debilitating.