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As of February next year, Jamaicans should have increased access to drugs, under the free health care programme, when the Government of Jamaica Health Card comes fully into effect. The card was launched Thursday (August 20) at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. It will enable Jamaicans to more easily access drugs on the Vital, Essential and Necessary (VEN) list...

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has donated $2.2 million towards a breastfeeding pilot project in St. Catherine and Clarendon. At the handing over ceremony, held on August 14 at the Clarendon Health Department, Chairman of the Exclusive Breastfeeding Pilot Project Steering Committee, Michelle Coore-Brown, gave an overview of the project, emphasising that it seeks to have mothers making the...

Users of the Brown's Town Health Centre, in St. Ann, are expected to benefit from the comfort of the Lesma Johnston pre and post natal care wing, which is the latest addition to the facility. Rehabilitation work was recently carried out at the centre to add the new wing, at a cost of more than $3 million. The facility was...

Registration for the new Government of Jamaica (GoJ) health card will begin on September 1 for the roll-out of the programme by October 1. Health Minister, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, made the announcement on Thursday (Aug.13) at the official opening of the Lesma Johnston prenatal and post natal care wing at the Brown's Town Health Centre in St. Ann. The health...

Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Harvey Reid, is encouraging the expansion of the farming of Jamaican lemon grass. Professor Reid told JIS News that local and overseas markets are open for the by-products. "Almost every farmer has lemon grass growing on their farms or in their back...

"It has been my passion since I was a child," Nurse Mignott, calmly, explains her chosen career path. Thirty-year-old Andrea Mignott, who has been working with this passion for the past six years, was awarded Nurse of the Year at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) for Clinical Excellence in 2009. A graduate of the University Hospital of...

The Bustamante Hospital for Children, Kingston, has erected a shrine in honour of Lady Gladys Bustamante, widow of National Hero, The Rt. Excellent Sir Alexander Bustamante, who died on July 25. Administrator at the Hospital, Henry Anglin noted that the shrine was erected shortly after the hospital heard of Lady Bustamante's passing. "Lady Bustamante was the patron of the hospital,...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, says a review of security arrangements at the Princess Margaret Hospital in St. Thomas, is being undertaken following the invasion of the facility by gunmen early Friday morning (July 31). The Minister visited the Hospital Friday, and met with staff and patients who were present during the incident, as well as the management of...

Retired and current employees of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), who have contributed significantly to the advancement of health care in the region, were honoured at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on Thursday (July 30). Of the 125 persons honoured at the function, 97 have retired as of 2008, while 28 are existing staff members. Speaking at the luncheon,...

The Ministry of Health partnered with the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and Canada's Dalhousie University to hold a high level meeting to discuss the establishment of a Centre for Health Workforce Planning and Research in Jamaica. The discussions took place at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday (July 29). It is one of the steps being taken toward the...

A group of British parliamentarians were taken on a tour of facilities at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Thursday (July 30) to get an understanding of the operations of Jamaica's health system. The six parliamentarians, members of the United Kingdom Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), are being hosted by the Jamaican Branch of the Association....

Approximately 1,400 residents of Granville, Flanker and surrounding communities in St. James, are benefitting from health services provided by a medical team from the United States of America. The 20-member team of doctors and health professionals has been in the island since Monday (July 27), conducting simultaneous clinics at the Flanker and Granville health centres. Among the services being provided...