Schools are being urged to comply with the new sugar limit for sweetened beverages being sold or served on their campuses. Effective January 1, sweetened drinks with total sugar concentration exceeding a maximum of five grams/100 ml, are restricted from schools. This is a reduction from the limit of six grams/100ml implemented in January 2019. All schools are required to...

Parish Psychiatrist for Kingston and St. Andrew, Dr. Craig Radlein says health professionals and other personnel are being equipped, to provide the necessary support to persons suffering from depression and anxiety. He noted that both conditions are prevalent in Jamaica, adding that persons should become more sensitised to it. “It is very serious, it is debilitating, it robs persons of...

The Ministry of Health & Wellness notes the recent reports on Malaria cases in Jamaica but wishes to advise the public that as of 2012, Jamaica was re-instated on the Official Register of areas where Malaria eradication was achieved. Since then, Jamaica’s health system has detected only imported cases of the mosquito-borne disease, which is caused by the malaria parasite...

St. James Public Health Services is reporting a more than 60 per cent reduction in the parish’s aedes index since the start of vector control activities in January. Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Parish Manager, Lennox Wallace, told JIS News that vector--control workers and aides have been working feverishly to eradicate mosquito breeding sites in the parish. “When...

Health Promotion and Education Officer at the Westmoreland Health Department, Gerald Miller, says citizens must remain vigilant throughout the holiday season to prevent dengue fever and leptospirosis. In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Miller said that persons must bear in mind that there is still a dengue outbreak, and “they should use mosquito repellants that contain DEET, check for...

The American Friends of Jamaica, today (December 18), officially handed over $2 million worth of equipment and accessories to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), during a ceremony at the institution on North Street in downtown Kingston. The donations include a Cogent Transport Stretcher; eight Tanita Physician Digital Beam Scales; and three EDAN iM3 Vital Signs Monitors with Non-invasive Blood Pressure,...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, has announced that the proposed recruitment of dietitians and physiotherapists at infirmaries islandwide, is set to commence next year. Speaking during the Ministry’s Christmas Dinner at the St. James Infirmary in Montego Bay on Friday (December 13), Mr. McKenzie advised that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has...