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Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jean Dixon says the proposal to make the Pesticides Control Authority (PCA) an independent body, come April 2011, will help to create a more efficient and effective regulatory agency. "It will also give the Board and management the opportunity to examine the strategic plan for the organisation," she said, while addressing the...

More than 150 persons in St. Mary received free HIV testing, as the parish joined the rest of the international community in observing World AIDS Day, on December 1. The testing, which was carried out as part of a general health check up programme, was conducted by the St. Mary Health Department, in Port Maria. The event also provided an...

When the Gift of Life Cardiac Centre opens in 2011 at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC), it will be the only one of its kind in the Caribbean. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Beverley Needham, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed with multiple stakeholders, including Chain of Hope in the United Kingdom, Caribbean Heart...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has emphasized that despite Jamaica's success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, there is no room for complacency. He expressed appreciation to the Global Fund, noting that without this financial support, Jamaica could see a reversal in the downward trends in the spread of the disease. Mr. Golding said there is an estimated 50,000 Jamaicans with the...

Since the Government of Jamaica abolished user fees for children under 18 in 2007, the Bustamante Hospital for Children has seen an increase of 30 per cent patients visiting the accident and emergency department, and another 12 per cent increase in admissions. "These figures are a clear indication of the frightening reality that there were parents who were previously unable...

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett says that health and wellness tourism has great potential for development in Jamaica. Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett Speaking at a reception to celebrate the opening of the newest location of Jencare Skin Farm Spa in Miramar, Florida, on November 28, the Minister praised the owner, Jennifer Samuda, for her outstanding performance in...

The Ministry of Health has commenced the procurement process to purchase twenty five (25) ambulances for the public health sector. The new ambulances are expected to replace the fourteen (14) that have been written off and augment the existing fleet across the Health Regions. Over the last week, five Benz ambulances that were repaired have been collected by the Western,...

As the country continues to strengthen measures to prevent the transmission of cholera into Jamaica, Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, is again appealing to Jamaicans to do their part in ensuring that the country remains cholera-free. "I'm urging Jamaicans to be extra vigilant at this time, and particularly the children, because you know that they play in anything," Prime...

More than 600 persons from Montego Bay and adjoining communities, in St. James, benefited from the Cornwall Regional Hospital's Pharmacy Week Health Fair, which was staged at the medical facility on November 24. The event formed part of activities that were carried out during the week (November 21 to 27) under the theme: 'Pharmacy: Promoting health and wellnesses'. Many adults...

The St. Mary Health Department is in the process of aggressively implementing a number of measures, aimed at boosting the anti-cholera drive in the parish. In an interview with JIS News, Medical Officer of Health for St. Mary, Dr. San San Win, said the measures include a public education drive to sensitise the residents of the parish about the preventive...

With a cholera outbreak in neighbouring Haiti affecting close to 60,000 individuals and resulting in over 1000 deaths, Jamaicans are being urged to take the necessary precautions to keep out the disease. Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, is urging all citizens to continue to do their part in ensuring proper hygiene and...

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, has said that while health research can be costly, this area is critical in assisting Jamaica to implement programmes, policies and decisions aimed at improving the nation's health system. Dr. Campbell-Forrester was speaking at the inaugural National Health Research Conference (HRC), held at the Wyndham Kingston Hotel, on...