The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has extended the deadline for the submission of entries to its ‘Every Child Deserves Protection’ jingle competition to Friday, June 15. The original deadline for the submission of entries was June 8. The competition, which was launched in May (Child Month), is aimed at ensuring that there is a strong and sustained...

The Ministry of Health has established a Medicinal Cannabis Unit (MCU) as part of measures to facilitate the medical marijuana industry’s development in Jamaica. This was disclosed in a Ministry Paper tabled by Portfolio Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, in the House of Representatives on June 5. To date, the MCU has registered approximately 61 medicinal cannabis products, manufactured...

A cohort of 18 nurses and five educators/supervisors will depart for the People’s Republic of China later this month to participate in a Nurses Training Exchange Programme. Another group is slated to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) to participate in a training programme in that country early next year. This was disclosed by Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher...

The number of entities participating in the Government’s Public-Private Sector Pharmacy Programme is being increased. Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said 35 pharmacies will be added to the initiative’s current participants to bring the number to 52, pointing out that contracts to expand the complement have been signed. He was speaking in the 2018/19 Sectoral Debate in the...

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says there was no fallout in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) results from the state of emergency (SOE) and zones of special operations (ZOSOs). “Overall, to the credit of our students, parents and teachers, they have demonstrated resilience. We see no trend at all from any of the...

Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says the Reduced Waiting Time Initiative that was implemented last year in 15 health facilities islandwide, will be expanded during the 2018/19 fiscal year, after recording positive results in those institutions. Speaking in the 2018/19 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (June 5), Dr. Tufton said the Government remains committed...

The Government will be intensifying the implementation of provisions under the Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations, 2013. Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said this undertaking will include mandatory prohibition of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including a ban on point-of-sale tobacco displays; prohibiting the sale of all forms of tobacco products to and by minors; and regulating price...

The Government’s communications network, GovNet, which is expected to result in greater public-sector interconnectivity and efficiency, was officially launched today (June 6). GovNet is a secure, wide area network infrastructure that will link government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to facilitate shared services. These include data centre computing services (Gov-Cloud); a consolidated voice communication system (Gov-Talk), a consolidated email system...

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is partnering with the School of Education at the University at the West Indies (UWI), Mona, St. Andrew, to award 200 scholarships to educators, and individuals desirous of pursuing training in teacher education. Addressing a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank, at the Agency’s head office in Kingston on Wednesday (June 6), Undergraduate...