A youth opinion piece published for Caribbean Wellness Day 2026 argues that children and young people must help shape health policy, not simply receive advice, if the region is to become healthier.
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I doubt that giving young people a formal role in health policy will by itself make the region healthier, because consultation without real power or funding rarely changes anything. What’s missing is a concrete case where youth-led recommendations shifted a budget, a programme, or a measurable health outcome, not just another declaration.
Giving young people a real seat shifts the conversation to what adults keep dodging — vapes, school meals, mental health, the cost of eating well — and that’s exactly where the pushback will start. Whether any of it survives a ministry budget cycle is the part none of us has written yet.
Once young people are actually in the room, the conversation stops being about awareness campaigns and turns into bus routes, cafeteria contracts and whether the clinic stays open past three. That’s where it gets uncomfortable, because somebody has to pay for it. My guess is a few pilot projects get announced first and the harder funding fights slide to the next budget cycle.
