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The Ministry of Health is reporting an increase in the incidence of gastroenteritis, malaria and dengue fever across the island, due largely to the prevailing drought conditions, and is looking to implement a national hand washing campaign as part of measures to contain the spread. Speaking at Thursday's (February 18) post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House, portfolio Minister, Hon. Rudyard...

An agreement was signed and ground broken Friday (February 19), for the development of the Old Hospital site, in Montego Bay, into a natural, recreational public space. Deputy General Manager, Economic Development and Corporate Relations, Urban Development Corporation (UDC), Lenworth Tracey, and Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), Joan Gordon-Webley, were signatories to the agreement. Minister...

Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Dr. Lambert Ennis, is appealing to Jamaicans to donate blood for 24 children, ages three months to 12 years, who are in desperate need of the fluid to undergo critical heart surgery. The surgeries, which are scheduled to take place between February 23 and March...

Executive Director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Mr. Michael Tucker, has cited strong support from several stakeholders, in its efforts to curb substance abuse in Jamaica. Speaking at a JIS 'Think Tank', at the agency's Half-Way Tree Road head office last week, Mr. Tucker pointed out that the NCDA has worked with several agencies, inclusive of non-governmental...

A ban on cigarette smoking will shortly be introduced within the entire designated area of Emancipation Square in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. The Square will be the first Smokefree Square in the Caribbean, when a declaration is officially unveiled in March. The initiative is a joint project of the Smoke Free Action Coalition in Spanish Town and the St. Catherine...

Executive Director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Mr. Michael Tucker, says the agency has been successful in heightening awareness of the dangers of substance abuse, through its intervention programmes, which target children as young as five years old. "You have to start to give them the information and appropriate messages, about the negative consequences of substance abuse,...

Executive Director of the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Mr. Michael Tucker, is contending that drug abuse must be treated as more than a health challenge, in order to prevent it from hindering Jamaica's growth and development as a nation. Speaking at a JIS 'Think Tank', at the Agency's Half-Way Tree Road head office, in St. Andrew, today (February...

A fundraising gospel concert will be held at the Mandeville Primary and Junior High School, to raise funds to assist a resident of the town who suffers from sickle cell anemia. The concert is scheduled for Sunday (February 14), and is in aid of 29-year-old Keino Ward, who suffers from sickle cell anemia and needs do hip surgery, urgently, to...

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Honourable Olivia Grange, MP has said that HIV/AIDS is a gender issue. Speaking in Parliament during the debate on the National HIV/AIDS Workplace policy, Minister Grange said: "It (HIV/AIDS) affects our women and our men, our young and our old; in essence it affects the very fabric of our family structure. In this...

Senator the Hon Arthur Williams, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, will meet with heads of unions/associations representing the Health Sector on Tuesday (February 9), to discuss the Industrial Disputes Tribunal's (IDT) ruling in the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) reclassification dispute, among other issues. The issue involves a claim on the Ministry of...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, has appealed to Jamaican women to get tested for HIV, and to take more responsibility for their sexual behaviour by using a condom during sexual encounters. The call came as the nation observes Safer Sex Week, February 7-14, under the theme, "Smarter Women Always Buy, Carry and Use Condoms." Mr. Spencer said that the...

For a person who has been smoking for many years, sticking to a decision to quit is one of the most difficult undertakings he or she must endure. But, for those who succeed, the rewards can be great, particularly in the area of health, where quitting can save their lives. Before May 2008, Engineering Technician, 35 year-old David Reid* had...