Executive Director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Michael Tucker says the agency will make efforts to restrict the availability and access to drugs in, and around school compounds. Mr. Tucker expressed concern over the findings of the National Secondary School Survey at a meeting, held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on May 9, to announce...

Member of Parliament for North West St. Ann, Dr. Dayton Campbell is urging the Government to repeal the provisions concerning abortion under the Offences Against the Persons Act. Dr. Campbell was making his contribution to the 2014/15 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 6. He argued that the current illegal status of abortion in all circumstances...

Director, Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services, Dr. Marion Bullock DuCasse is urging Jamaicans to take precaution against the spread of mosquito borne diseases. This comes as the Chikungunya virus (CHIK-V) continues to spread to some Caribbean nations. “While we have not yet seen the disease in Jamaica, the Ministry of Health continues to put measures in place as part...

Residents of Exchange in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, are to benefit from a health centre to be constructed by the Ministry of Health at a cost of $39 million. The project is being jointly financed by the National Health Fund (NHF) and Culture, Health, Arts, Sports, and Education (CHASE) Fund, and will provide beneficiaries with access to maternal and child,...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson says the re-introduction of user fees in the public health sector may not by itself generate the levels of revenue required to adequately finance the system. “While we might need to do some things relative to what you call revenue streams, the answer cannot be just a total bringing back to the fore...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson has encouraged the National Health Fund (NHF) to place greater focus on health promotion, illnesses prevention, and research. This, he said, is in order to ensure the continued delivery of quality medical care to all Jamaicans. He noted that since the establishment of the Fund over a decade ago, only $1 billion was...

The journey to the Tobacco Regulations under the Jamaica Public Health Act has been a long but satisfying one for persons who have played key roles in their enactment. These include Special Advisor to the Minister of Health on Tobacco Control, Dr. Eva Lewis-Fuller, who shared with JIS News the history of the journey. The impact of tobacco use was...