Executive Director of the United States based National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), Dr. David Dyjack, says public health officials must form relationships with local communities, if they are to be successful in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases. Giving the keynote address at the Jamaica Association of Public Health Inspectors (JAPHI) 69th Annual Educational Conference and Exhibition at the Grand Palladium...

The Government has agreed to further assist with the education and training of  nurses, though the provision of scholarships for tertiary studies. This was revealed by Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, during a ceremony to sign a Heads of Agreement with the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), for the contract period 2015 to 2017, at Jamaica House, on...

The North East Florida Medical Society will, for the second consecutive year, provide voluntary medical services to residents in the parishes of Hanover and St James from November 9 to 13. The medical professionals, under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Jones from Florida, USA, will be providing free medical services to residents of Hanover from November 9 to 13 and...

A special unit is to be established within the Ministry of Health to monitor the care for newborns at public and private facilities. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, made the announcement during a statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, October 27. The move follows the death of 19 preterm babies at the University of the Hospital of...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller has expressed sympathies to the families of the babies who died from infection caused by the Klebsiella and Serratia bacteria at the University Hospital of the West Indies and Cornwall Regional Hospital, while urging the Ministry of Health to ensure that the situation does not recur. “I extend sincere sympathies to parents...

Reproductive Health Advisor at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean, Dr. Mario Aguilar, says investing in the reduction of adolescent pregnancies can lead to significant economic and social gains. Speaking on a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) television programme, ‘Issues and Answers’, he emphasised that every effort must be taken in the region to deal...

Come December, all public hospitals in Jamaica will be testing pregnant women and newborns for sickle cell disease (SCD). The universal screening programme is part of a thrust by the Government, to develop a strong framework for the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of persons suffering from the debilitating condition. The objective is to minimise the effects of SCD on...