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The St. Elizabeth-based Balaclava High School has won the 2010 Health Debating Competition organised by the parish's Health Department. At the finals of the competition held on Tuesday (April 13) at the Black River High School, Balaclava beat six other institutions to take home the winning trophy among other prizes. The Hampton School placed second. Munroe College and Black River,...

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) says that more pharmaceutical items will be made available to the public health system, starting this month, with the signing of some 44 contracts by Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Wednesday (April 21). The contracts will be signed at a special ceremony at Jamaica House. The ceremony, the first of its kind, will...

The maternity ward at the Mandeville Regional Hospital has received three mobile blood pressure machines and two cardiotocographs, valued at over US$8,000, from the Rotary Club of Mandeville, with support from Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB). At the handing over ceremony, held at the hospital on April 15, Branch Manager at JMMB, Mrs. Marcia Whittaker, highlighted the health care that...

The Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre at Mona, in St Andrew, Jamaica, is to receive US$12,000 of medical equipment from the Rotary Club of Falls Church, Virginia, in the United States. Club President, Ms. Carlota McCormack, said the medical equipment will include surgical beds with rails, utility bath trolleys, commodes, portable oxygen regulators, stethoscopes and digital thermometers, which will all...

More than 330 persons with serious eye conditions have received treatment at the Jamaica/Cuba Ophthalmology Centre in Kingston, since it started performing surgeries about a month ago. Among them is 19-year-old Okeilo Downing, who is eager to return to school after having cataract removed from his right eye this morning (April 14). Okeilo, who spoke to JIS News after the...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jean Dixon, has said that Government will be focusing on the renewal of the country's primary health care system this year, in order to relieve the strain on hospitals. "We are expecting to use the primary health care facilities to triage (prioritize) patients and only send to the tertiary institution those that...

A new health clinic has been opened in the East Queen Street area of downtown Kingston to cater to the needs of the inner-city residents. The building, situated at the corner of Higholborn Street once housed a similar facility. It was donated to the charity group, Missionaries of the Poor, and was subsequently renovated by the Brothers into a new...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, has called on governments in the region to put measures in place to ensure that health care is more accessible to its citizens, particularly the less fortunate. "We must begin to view health as critical to the survival of the region's peoples. When placed within the context of a fundamental right, it becomes incumbent...

The Ministry of Health says that normality has returned to public hospitals, following an increase in the number of nurses on duty, since Friday (April 9). The Ministry of Health's National Emergency Operations Centre, activated on Friday, recorded a high turn out of registered nurses at 25 public hospitals islandwide, including the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston....

The Trelawny Public Health Department, through its vector control programme, carried out one fogging and 10 oiling operations throughout the parish during the month of March. Additionally, some 79 mosquito breeding sites were identified and treated. This was revealed by Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector, Mr. Delroy Mowatt, in a report tabled at the monthly meeting of the Trelawny Parish...

The Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) has agreed to resume discussions at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service next week, on public registered nurses claim for pay increases dating back to 2008. Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles, endorsed the decision at a meeting with the NAJ at his Ministry Friday (April 9). He emphasised,...

Ground was broken on April 6 for expansion of the Lionel Town Hospital's training facility, in Clarendon. Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, said that the facility, to be funded by the National Health Fund (NHF), at a cost of $69.7 million, would be able to train 60 students annually. It will comprise three lecture rooms, two laboratories, a staff...