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The Ministry of Health will begin a Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) immunisation campaign shortly, as it seeks to ramp up coverage for this vaccine, which is now at only 88 per cent. This move comes as Jamaica seeks certification from the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having eliminated measles, rubella, and congenital rubella syndrome, this year. Making the announcement at...

Health Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, said that an audit is to be conducted on the island's sole mental health institution, the Bellevue Hospital in East Kingston. This audit, he explained, is to determine the extent of intervention needed to reform and restructure the facility, including upgrading of infrastructure, in order to improve operations and the quality of service to...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, said the Government is ready to partner with private interests to invest in secondary health care, particularly in the area of cancer treatment. He stated that providing the best care for cancer patients is critical, and requires collaboration with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and other interests. “We are anxious to look at the areas...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has said the Government will be pushing for free health care for children at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). “I think a no user fee policy for children and adolescents at the University Hospital of the West Indies was analysed by leading scholars in this area to be a necessary...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has said the Government is looking to establish centres of excellence in the regional hospitals, as it seeks to improve access to quality health care for Jamaicans. Dr. Ferguson, who was addressing the opening of the 10th Annual Caribbean Neurosciences Symposium and Workshop at the Montego Bay Conference Centre in St. James on...

Thank you for inviting me to this symposium. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Caribbean neurological association and the department of surgery at the university hospital of the West Indies for holding this symposium for the 10th year. The ministry has an interest in the information that is shared at symposia of this nature and the evidence that is...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says the Government is committed to a healthy and stable population, through the repositioning of primary health care. "There is going to be a shift in priority, there is going to be a shift in relation to primary health care (which will) become the strategic focus in this Ministry,” the Minister declared. "We...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says the government will introduce a new policy of universal free health care at primary care facilities, but assured that it has no intention to deny access to vulnerable patients at the secondary and tertiary levels.    "It is a shift from what now obtains, which is universal free primary, secondary and tertiary...

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday (January 18), handed over the keys to six vehicles, valued at some $12 million, to the four main regional authorities, in an effort to further enhance the work of the Vector Control Programme. Speaking at the handing over ceremony at the Ministry’s offices, downtown Kingston, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, said the vehicles...

The Occupational Safety and Health Department in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) has embarked on an HIV/AIDS food Industry Pilot Project, in an effort to sensitize the public that HIV/AIDS cannot be transmitted through food. Launched on World Aids Day, December 1, the project enables several companies to become actively involved by signing a proclamation. The proclamation...

Some 73 young persons were recruited by the Westmoreland Parish Council late last year to work with the parish's Public Health Department on the Dengue Fever Alert Programme. Addressing the Council at a meeting on January 12, Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar and Chairman of the Council, Bertel Moore, said the persons who were  trained by the  Health Department, were deployed across...

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, says a Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Health Card, to help improve the delivery of healthcare services to Jamaicans, is to be introduced shortly. The Minister was speaking Friday (January 13) at a Ministry of Health Retreat, at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston. The GOJ Health Card will allow persons with prescriptions from...