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KINGSTON — Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, said the Government's programme of renovating and constructing community health centres is critical to providing quality health care to Jamaicans and reducing overcrowding and long waiting times at public hospitals. “There is no point to ask people to visit health centres if the proper equipment are not in place,” Mr. Spencer stated...

KINGSTON — Some 275 delegates from 21 countries will converge at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay from August 21 to 26 for the International HIV Management Conference. The six-day meeting, which is being held in Jamaica for the first time, will bring together three important fora: the 8th Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS) HIV/AIDS Workshop; the...

KINGSTON — Over 40 representatives from government ministries, departments and agencies non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civic groups participated in a one-day partnership building workshop on Friday August 12, at the Shirley Retreat Hotel, Kingston. The workshop, which focused on issues such as human rights, gender and HIV and AIDS, was hosted by the National HIV/STI Programme (NHP) in the Ministry...

KINGSTON — The Ministry of Health is encouraging more medical practitioners to serve in deep rural communities, providing attractive incentives for those who decide to relocate. "If they will come I will provide the incentive for them to come," said Portfolio Minister, Hon. Rudyard Spencer on August 10, at the re-opening of the refurbished Retreat Health Centre in St. Mary....

KINGSTON — There has been an increase in the number of persons accessing care at health centres in St. Mary. This was disclosed by Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer on Wednesday August 10, during the official re-opening of the Gayle Health Centre in the parish, which was refurbished at a cost of $3,087,000. The Health Minister pointed out that...

MONTEGO BAY — Children of staff of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay have received educational grants to assist with their secondary school expenses. The grants, which total $80,000, were handed over by members of the Women’s Committee of the National Workers Union (NWU), which represents the employees at the hospital, during a brief ceremony at the facility on...

KINGSTON — The first members of a Cuban biomedical engineering team to restore well-needed medical equipment in the public health system, have arrived in Jamaica. Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, told a briefing at the ministry, downtown Kingston on Friday (July 29) that the Biomedical Agreement between Jamaica and the Cuban Government will last for a period of two...

KINGSTON — Acting Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Jamaica, Dr. Hugo Prado, has attributed severe health challenges occurring in some countries, to weak and ineffective information support systems. However, he said that some countries may be unable to implement effective systems, because they are too poor to afford it. Speaking at the opening of a...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jean Dixon, has underscored the importance of having an effective and robust information system that will support the management of health service delivery in Jamaica. Speaking at the opening of a three-day National Health Information System assessment workshop today (July 26) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, she argued that, against...

KINGSTON — The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) officially handed over a $1.8 million solar lighting system to the Maxfield Park Health Centre, Kingston, which should help the institution save some $300,000, or 9.4 mega-watts per hour (MWh), annually. Under the energy conservation initiative, the PCJ has replaced the facility’s outdoor mercury vapour yard lamps and halogen globe lamps in...

KINGSTON — The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, opened its newly constructed state-of-the art CHASE Carnegie Skills Laboratory, for the training of medical students and residents in a modern setting, on Thursday July 21. The facility, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, was constructed and equipped at a cost of some $35 million by the Department...

MONTEGO BAY — Over $7 million will be spent to rehabilitate the Moneague Health Centre in St. Ann, which serves more than 10,000 persons from that area, and surrounding communities. The health centre, which is now closed to facilitate repair work, is currently operating out of the Moneague Community Centre. Chief Health Inspector at the St. Ann Health Department, Leroy...