The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) continues to encourage parents to ensure their children are fully registered, and a critical aspect of this is the Father’s name on the child’s birth certificate. Not only does the presence of a father’s name complete a child’s identity but it also helps in matters of immigration, settling of estates, among others. To promote the...

Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson says training and education are among the best and most valuable investments that can be made for the country and for each individual and family. Dr. Ferguson was speaking on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at the graduation exercise for 30 Critical Care Nurses held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Kingston. The group represented...

“There will be a brighter future and hope for those born with sickle cell disease,”  stated Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson in making reference to research done by the Sickle Cell Unit showing a downward trend in mortality by 10 years of age in children diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the time of birth. Dr. Ferguson was speaking...

The Registrar General’s Department (RGD), is undergoing a transformation with a number of initiatives that has helped to improve service delivery and reduce the number of customer complaints. The entity, responsible for storing records of birth, marriage, still birth and death in Jamaica, began its service enhancement plan in 1999 when it became an Executive Agency of the government. A...

Minister of Health Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson says that sickle cell disease is one of the priority conditions that have been included in the Strategic and National Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) 2013 to 2018. The Health Minister noted that the main objective of this endeavour is to strengthen the management of sickle...

The Ministry of Health is imploring householders to be vigilant in preventing the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus. Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, Medical Entomologist in the Ministry, Sherine Huntley Jones, noted that the mosquito breeds when water gets trapped in containers in and around the home. As such, she said, they...

Five institutions in Jamaica now have automated external defibrillators (AED), which are used in resuscitating the heartbeat. The devices, valued at some US$7,500, were provided by Team Jamaica Bickle Inc., a Diaspora organisation, which provides support services for Caribbean athletes, who compete at the annual Penn Relays. The beneficiary institutions are Petersfield High, Westmoreland; Green Island High, Hanover; Vere Technical...