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The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is advising persons who normally seek shelter at the Ocho Rios High School to use the United Church in Buckfield. The St. Ann Emergency Operation Centre is now at the Police Headquarters in St. Ann's Bay, they can be contacted at the following numbers: 972-2331, 974-8912, 909-4469. All persons along the...

The Meteorological Service has advised The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), that conditions will begin to deteriorate rapidly along the coastline as Hurricane Ivan begins to move towards the island. Persons living in flood prone and coastal areas including the North Coast must move to safety now. Once tropical storm force winds begin any outdoor activity will...

The Surveys and Mapping Division of the National Land Agency (NLA), has incorporated the use of cutting edge technology, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), to make its operations as efficient as possible. Director of the Division, Trevor Shaw tells JIS News that in the past, the division conducted geodetic surveys using theodolites and distance meters, but now, "because of the advent...

They have become a feature of commercial areas in the Kingston Metropolitan Area. Homeless people. Sleeping in shop doorways at night and begging money to buy their meals. Some are young, others not so young, but most of them have one thing in common; they suffer from a mental illness. While many organizations and groups have come to the support...

The Blood Bank has stepped up its collection drive in Portland, with the establishment of a Parish Committee to regulate blood donation in the parish. Carol Williams, blood donor organizer for the Eastern Region of the Blood Bank told JIS News that the move was to deal with the severe shortage of blood at the blood bank. She noted that...

Director at the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), Dr. Fitzroy Henry, has said that the HIV/AIDS epidemic was posing a "formidable challenge" to the region and threatening to erode some of the gains made in healthcare over the last 50 years. He pointed out that in Jamaica, an estimated 50 persons, between 20 to 40 years, died each month...

The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) has organised a workshop designed to highlight the importance of good nutritional habits for people living with HIV/AIDS. The three-day workshop, which got underway yesterday (Sept. 1) at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in St. James, is targeted at persons living with the disease and their caregivers. The event coincided with the launch...

The Ministry of Health will be increasing its drive to promote more screenings for cervical cancer during the month of September. Under the Cervical Cancer Programme, which was initially launched in April (Cancer Month), the Ministry has been targeting women in the age group 25 to 54 years, who have never had a pap smear, the test used to screen...

"My daughter, my only child", were the first words Earnest Williams uttered as he walked into the small room at the Registrar General's Department (RGD) and saw his daughter, Yvonne Williams-Brown, tears streaming down her face. Torn apart by a spousal separation, Earnest, 64, last saw his only living child, Yvonne, now 37, at age two. So near, yet so...

The Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in St. James has reported that it was only collecting 60 per cent of the fees required for the efficient operation of the hospital but has implemented measures to improve collection. According to Everton Anderson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CRH, hospital bills were in the region of $18 million to $20 million per...

Ground has been broken for a new accident and emergency ward at the Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth. Minister of Health, John Junor, speaking recently at the official ceremony, noted that the project was expected to cost some $39 million. He pointed out that the Health Support Fund (HSF), in collaboration with the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), would...

Acting Director of Nutrition in the Ministry of Health, Sharmaine Edwards, has urged parents to foster healthy eating habits in their children, to encourage them to practice good nutrition as they grow older and avoid the hazards of unhealthy eating such as obesity. "Obesity will cause a child to become lethargic, develop a negative body image, low self-esteem and it...