Public health officials are to receive further training this fiscal year in food safety and other related standards under the European Development Fund (EDF) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Capacity Building Project. This is being done in a bid to increase awareness of international standards and technical requirements in the public sector, in relation to food safety as well as animal...

The Government has allocated more than $26 million to strengthen Jamaica’s health systems, through the development of a 10-year Strategic Development Plan for the sector. This is contained in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on April 14. Under the project, titled ‘Strengthening of Health Systems in Jamaica’, there will also be the creation of...

The Ministry of Health will continue its implementation of a programme to reduce AIDS-related morbidity and mortality this year, through effective biomedical and supporting interventions. A sum of approximately $624 million has been allocated in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on April 14, for the project. The project, titled ‘Support to the National HIV/AIDS...

Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has committed to putting measures in place to ensure members of the pharmaceutical industry face a shorter waiting time for the registration of drugs. He said the process is being manually done by limited personnel who complete up to 400 applications per year, resulting in a wait time of several months. “We...

Jamaica is one of three Caribbean countries to receive funding from the Organization of American States (OAS), to conduct a National Drug Prevalence Survey. The survey seeks to determine the extent of drug use among Jamaicans,  aged 12 to 65 years, with a particular focus on marijuana use and attitudes toward recent legislative changes. Research Analyst at the National Council...

The Government has allocated $6.8 million to a project to strengthen the country’s national surveillance systems and establish an institutional coordination mechanism to respond to vector borne diseases as well as prepare for the threat of the Ebola virus. This is contained in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on April 14 by Minister of...

The Ministry of Health is to continue the implementation of a project to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, with the allocation of $501.25 million. This allocation is contained in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The Programme for Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC) in Jamaica is aimed at the attainment of...