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The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) disclosed Saturday (November 20) that Prime Minister Bruce Golding has given instructions for mobilization of a team of Jamaican medical and support personnel for deployment to Haiti. The team will assist in combating the cholera epidemic now ravaging that country. Official reports indicate that more than 1,000 persons have died, and over 15,000...

Some 51 Cuban nurses are to arrive in Jamaica by January to ease the shortage at public health facilities across the island. Health Minister. Hon. Rudyard Spencer, who made the disclosure on Thursday November 18, said that the nurses will be placed mainly in primary health care facilities. He was speaking on day-one of a one-week budget preparation retreat at...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, has pledged to continue to vigorously pursue extra budgetary support for the health services. He gave the assurance on November 18 at the start of a one-week budget preparation retreat at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, which is being attended by key stakeholders in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of...

The Ministry of Health has saved some $386 million in the procurement of pharmaceutical and medical supplies since the start of the financial year, Health Minister, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, has disclosed. Mr. Spencer said the savings were accrued through the implementation of cost efficient policies across the pharmacy service in the public health sector, including the use of less expensive...

Two health institutions in western Jamaica are to receive medical supplies and furniture valued at US$325,000 (J$27.6 million). The items are being donated to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St. James and the Falmouth Hospital, in Trelawny, by the Jamaican organisation of New Jersey (John J) and Foster Dublin and Associates, a consulting firm based in Highland Park,...

The Ministry of Health will be hosting a budget retreat which will involve a series of workshops to assist all entities to meet the guidelines established by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service in preparation for the 2011/2012 budget. The opening session of the Retreat will take place on Thursday, November 18, 2010 at the Jamaica Conference Centre...

The Ministry of Health would like to clarify statements in the media regarding the number of positions to be made redundant, as a result of the merger of the National Health Fund (NHF) and Health Corporation Limited (HCL). Minister of Health, the Hon Rudyard Spencer Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, had informed Parliament that over 180 positions would be...

Some 25,000 newborns in the parishes of Manchester, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth have been screened for sickle cell disease under the Sickle Cell Trust's Manchester Project. In addition, 2,600 high school students in Manchester and Clarendon are being tested for the trait each year, as the Trust works to reduce the incidence of the disease in Jamaica. The $44 million...

The London based medical charity, Chain of Hope, which will make its 15th surgical mission to Jamaica next week, recently launched a

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, has said that Jamaica's policies relating to the administration of drugs may have to be adjusted to allow greater flexibility in the use of opioids for treating chronic diseases. Opioids are a class of drugs commonly prescribed for their analgesic (pain-killing) properties, and used in medicine because they can block the perception of...

The Hanover Health Department has joined in the call to residents to refrain from playing or swimming in bodies of stagnant water, while highlighting the fact that several types of infectious diseases can be picked up through the practice. According to Public Health Inspector in the Hanover Health Department, Lloyd Stewart, the concerns have been heightened by the increased sightings...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, says the Government is continuing efforts to deal with any threat of cholera, and is holding talks with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to obtain support in the national drive. Addressing a groundbreaking ceremony to upgrade the Rocky Point Fishing Beach, in Clarendon, on November 10, the Minister emphasised that communities must joint...