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MONTEGO BAY — Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, said the programme to rehabilitate health centres across the island is going well. He informed that 48 of the 56 targeted facilities have been upgraded to date with adequate staff put in place. “Importantly, what we have now in those health centres is a doctor, we have a nurse, we have...

The Government is making headway in restoring the Essential National Health Research Committee, to help guide health research in priority areas. Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, made the disclosure in a message to the National Health Research Conference in Kingston, Thursday (October 27), read by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Eva Lewis Fuller. The committee, which has been defunct for...

KINGSTON — Hundreds of students at the Pembroke Hall Primary School in Kingston have been given access to free eye screening services, to ensure that sight related defects are treated from the earliest onset. The screenings, which began on October 26 and ended on October 27, was made possible through the Lions Club of Kingston and the Canadian High Commission,...

MONTEGO BAY — Every October, a team of medical professionals from Atlanta in the United States close their private practice or take leave from their jobs, and head for the sunny shores of Jamaica for a few days. They do not come to the island for fun and relaxation; instead, they are volunteering their time and skills to treating less...

KINGSTON — The Ministry of Health is intensifying its health promotion campaign, by focusing on safe motherhood to achieve a maternal mortality rate of 27 per 100,000 live births by 2015. Safe motherhood is the ability of a woman to undertake pregnancy and childbirth without harming herself or her child. The purpose of the initiative is to promote and protect...

KINGSTON — A call has been made for businesses to set up employee assistance programmes (EAP), which will provide confidential mental health support for workers. Director of the Public Sector Employee Assistance Programme (PSEAP) in the Office of the Cabinet, Doreen Grossett, made the appeal while addressing a recent mental health symposium at the Alhambra Inn hotel in Kingston. She...

KINGSTON — There has been a push by Government to improve the availability and accessibility to mental health services, with small and other health facilities offering support to persons with the illness. According to Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, services to mental health patients have been integrated into general health services. “These services are now offered at 139 locations,...

KINGSTON — Ground was broken for construction of the Centre of Excellence at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon, on Tuesday (October 11). The centre will house a dialysis treatment facility, which will be called The Beverly Nichols Dialysis Centre, in honour of Mrs. Nichols’ financial contribution to its construction. The Centre will also consist of administrative offices, cafeteria, conference...

KINGSTON — Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Marlene Malahoo-Forte, says increased collaboration and partnerships among members of the Jamaican Diaspora and the Government is critical to improving the quality of local health care. “There is a genuine need for improved healthcare in Jamaica but, unfortunately, at this time the Government is not...

MONTEGO BAY — Mayor of Montego Bay and Chairman of the St. James Parish Council, Councillor Charles Sinclair, has commended overseas and local health personnel and volunteers of the Montego Bay/Atlanta Sister Cities Health Mission for the “tremendous’ sacrifices which have made the 18th health mission to Montego Bay a reality. Addressing Jamaica's Honorary Consul in Atlanta, Hon. Vin Martin,...

The Ministry of Health joins with the rest of the World to observe World Mental Health Day on October 10. This year we also intend to have a week of activities from October 10-14 to mark the occasion.  As we continue to promote mental health and the need for more significance to be placed on affected persons, this observance will...

KINGSTON — World Mental Health Week will be observed in Jamaica October 9 to 14, under the theme, "The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health." The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) will be hosting activities across the parishes of Clarendon, St. Elizabeth and Manchester during the week. Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Karen Elliott, says these activities are geared to sensitizing...