The Ministry of Health is warning members of the public of the negative impact on health caused by the excessive use or misuse of antibiotics. Antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the result of the abuse of antibiotics. AMR occurs when bacteria change and become resistant to the antibiotics used to treat the infections they cause. AMR is caused by a number...

Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has welcomed a report that highlights the significant costs associated with treating trauma-related cases in the public health system. The Cost of Care report, which was launched on Wednesday (December 6) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) regional headquarters in Mona, St. Andrew, shows that the direct and indirect medical cost...

Senior Medical Officer at the National Chest Hospital, Dr. Terry Baker, is urging persons who have been exposed to cigarette smoke over an extended period to look out for signs of lung cancer. Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Dr. Baker, who is a pulmonologist and internist, pointed out that the disease may present itself in myriad ways, and...

Prime Minster, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the next step in the Jamaica Moves campaign will be to take legislation to Parliament to regulate the sugar content in food products. But before that, he said, persons will have to be educated about the ill effects of some of the foods they consume daily. He was addressing a large crowd...

Jamaicans are being warned that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are dangerous and should not be viewed as a viable option to regular cigarettes. In an interview with JIS News, Senior Medical Officer (SMO) of the National Chest Hospital, Dr. Terry Baker, said that although e-cigarettes have been put forward as a safer alternative to cigarettes, dangers still abound. “A number of...

Work is under way to retrofit all primary and secondary schools across the island with lifts and ramps to improve access by persons with disabilities. The initiative is being undertaken at a cost of $50 million by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information in collaboration with the Digicel Foundation. “It is in the budget for the next five years,”...

The Ministry of Health will be providing three research grants of up to $1.5 million each for tertiary students pursuing studies in specific areas. The grants are available to postgraduate students of the Northern Caribbean University; University of Technology; and the University of the West Indies, Mona, who propose to undertake studies related to the top-10 health priority areas of...