The National HIV/AIDS Response in Jamaica initiative has been allocated $784 million in the 2020/2021 Budget, now before the House of Representatives. The objective of the project is to reduce AIDS-related deaths by reaching at-risk individuals with support interventions, for the decrease of new HIV infections among targeted groups, through structured programmes. Targets to achieve over the next twelve months...

The Government has earmarked $250 million to complete 60 per cent of construction work on the Western Children’s Adolescent Hospital. Details for the 220-bed facility are outlined in the 2020/2021 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Completion work has been done on site clearance and access road, utility relocation and reconnection, and security services. Under the Government...

A team from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will arrive in the island on Wednesday (February 12), to train local staff on how to test for the coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jacquiline A. Bisasor-McKenzie, made the announcement at a press conference at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, in New Kingston, on February 10, where an update on...

One person who recently returned to Jamaica from China and was placed in quarantine, has been isolated after showing signs of an elevated temperature. The Government, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, provided an update on the coronavirus, at a press conference on Monday (February 10), held at the Ministry in New Kingston. This brings the total number of...

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) and the Western Children’s and Adolescent’s Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James, are poised to be the most modern public health facilities in the Caribbean. “When [renovations at] Cornwall Regional Hospital [are] finished and [the facility is] restored with 450 beds, and [when] the Western Children...

Government Senator, Dr. Saphire Longmore, is encouraging Jamaicans to be more compassionate towards mentally ill persons, by trying to help them rather than mistreating or shunning. “Mental health and the care of the mental capacity of our people are paramount,” she said during her contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Thursday (February 6). Emphasizing...

Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says several public health facilities are to be upgraded with funding support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and European Union (EU). He indicated that the IDB has provided a loan of US$50 million, while the EU has offered grant support of €10 million. The funds will be used to further...