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The control and prevention of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases was the focus of activities observing World AIDS Day in St. Mary on Friday (Dec. 1). The event, which included a discussion on HIV/AIDS and the importance of testing for the disease, and demonstrations in the use of male and female condoms, was the culmination of a...

As part of its preparations for the festive season, the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) will host the 'Gift of Life Christmas Blood Collection Drive' this Saturday, December 9, on the North lawn of Devon House from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is a new approach for the blood bank, which has always had a difficulty maintaining adequate supplies...

The National Centre for Volunteers should be in operation by early next year. Winsome Wilkens, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Council for Voluntary Social Services (CVSS), made the announcement at the International Volunteer Day awards ceremony for the parish of Kingston on December 5 at the Jamaica Pegasus. The centre, which has been constructed at 2D Camp Road in...

A Bill seeking to establish the National Commission on Science and Technology (NCST) as a statutory body was passed in the House of Representatives yesterday (December 6). Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, Phillip Paulwell, who piloted the Bill, said the NCST would be an "umbrella organization responsible for, among other things, providing advice to the government on matters...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has called for regional collaboration in the creation of a united Third Border, noting that the initiative could only become a reality through the building of an interdependent development partnership. Mrs. Simpson-Miller, who was addressing a plenary dinner held on Tuesday (Dec. 5) at the Miami Intercontinental Hotel, as part of the 30th annual conference...

Dr. Marion Bullock DuCasse, Director of Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services at the Ministry of Health stressed yesterday (December 7), that the malaria disease was not spreading. In an interview with JIS News, Dr. Bullock DuCasse explained that the increasing number of confirmed cases was due to the incubation period of malaria, which is between 9 and 14 days....

Former Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson is chairing a meeting on Commonwealth membership, in London.Mr. Patterson chairs the Committee on Commonwealth membership that will focus on issues concerning membership of the organization. The two-day meeting, which began on December 6, is being held at the Commonwealth Secretariat's headquarters in Marlborough House, London. The Committee was mandated by the Commonwealth Heads...

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Anthony Hylton, has said he was pleased with the appointment of former Information Minister, Burchell Whiteman as Jamaica's new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK). Senator Hylton told a community meeting at the Jamaican High Commission in London on December 5, that Mr. Whiteman had the right mix of skills to be...

Jamaica's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Raymond Wolfe, on Tuesday, December 5, signed the Treaty on the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. This treaty was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on April 13, 2005. The treaty seeks co-operation from UN member states in preventing the possibility of terrorism involving the use...

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) continued on a path of growth and viability in 2005, with a total asset base of $335 million. According to the Institute's Annual Report, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on December 5, this figure indicates "a significant increase of $250.72 million above the $84.29 million recorded in 2004 and resulted directly...

The Government of Jamaica yesterday (Dec. 7) received $886 million in macroeconomic budgetary support from the European Commission (EC), under the Support to Economic Reform Programme (SERP III). Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, speaking at the signing ceremony held at his offices in Kingston, informed that this money constituted the third and final tranche of a budgetary...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has called for regional collaboration in the creation of a united Third Border, noting that the initiative could only become a reality through the building of an interdependent development partnership. Mrs. Simpson-Miller, who was addressing a plenary dinner held on Tuesday (Dec. 5) at the Miami Intercontinental Hotel, as part of the 30th annual conference...