With Jamaica’s obesity rates increasing by one per cent each year, the Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, is urging more Jamaicans to make healthier food choices. Speaking at an obesity-prevention programme stakeholder meeting at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston on January 16, Dr. Tufton said proactive steps such as reducing the levels of sugar consumption...

The Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ) is targeting 2,000 participants for the second staging of its ‘Heroes of the Heart’ 5K run. Scheduled to take place on January 21 at Emancipation Park in St. Andrew, the event involves collaboration with Running Events Limited and Jamaica Moves. Speaking with JIS News, Executive Director of the HFJ, Deborah Chen, said that the...

Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says a pre-construction technical assessment is being undertaken at the Spanish Town Hospital as part of plans to upgrade the Type B facility to a Type A. “Upgrading from a (Type) B to an A means more services, more facilities, more beds and, as a consequence, being better able to respond to the...

Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says obesity among adults in Jamaica is increasing by one per cent every year, contributing to illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. He said if left unchecked, obesity and its consequences can retard and erode health and economic advances made over the last decade. It is for this reason, he noted, that...

More than 248,000 Jamaicans accessed benefits using their National Health Fund (NHF) cards at participating pharmacies across the island in 2017. Chief Executive Officer at the NHF, Everton Anderson, said that approximately 4.11 million claims were submitted in comparison to 4.10 million by over 239,000 individuals in 2016. “Arising from these claims, NHF spent just over $4.3 billion in subsidy...

The Ministry of Health will be moving towards the electronic storage of patients’ health records this year. This was disclosed by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Sancia Bennett Templer, at the recent launch of the trafficking in persons Standard Operating Procedures for health officials at the Ministry of Justice on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew. She was responding to a...

The country’s vector management programme has been strengthened with the opening of the Mosquito Control and Research Unit (MCRU) Insectary at the University of West Indies (UWI) Mona campus in St. Andrew. A joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and UWI through support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the facility will provide for entomological study...