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The Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be observing Safer Sex Week from February 12 to 18, 2012, under the theme: ‘Tek charge! Condom: check HIV Test: check Less Partners: check’. Programmes Manager for HIV at the Ministry, Peta-Gay Pryce, informs JIS News that the week’s activities is geared towards sensitising  persons about  the importance of taking charge of...

Some 203 locally trained nurses are expected to join the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) as of Monday (Feb. 5) to boost the staff complement in several hospitals across the region. Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, made the announcement on Wednesday (Feb. 1), following a tour of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and the Victoria Jubilee Hospital...

The cobalt unit used to administer radiotherapy to cancer patients at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), should be up and running within the next two weeks. Health Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, said that the Ministry has acquired the parts needed for the repair of the machine. He was speaking to journalists on Feb.1 after a tour of the KPH...

Health Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has called on private sector stakeholders to partner with the government in implementing an expanded programme of community-based care and intervention for the society’s mentally challenged. Speaking  while on  a tour of the island’s sole institution for the mentally challenged, Bellevue Hospital, in East Kingston, on January 31, Dr. Ferguson said the administration will...

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...