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The parish of St. Mary will observe World AIDS Day (December 1), with a candlelight vigil and concert in honour of persons who have died from the disease and those who are currently affected by the illness. The function, which is being sponsored by Jamaica AIDS Support, in association with the North Eastern Regional Health Authority HIV/STI Control Programme, the...

The Ministry of Health is reviewing data to ascertain the true number of cases of leptospirosis. "In another two weeks we should have some definite information on the exact number of cases of leptospirosis and how many deaths are associated with it," Dr. Linnette Peters, Director of Veterinary Public Health in the Ministry of Health told JIS News. The need...

Jamaica's fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS received a major boost last week through a strategic partnership with two private sector entities and a local group. Counterpart International through its Caribbean arm, in conjunction with Coca Cola and the Kingston-based Ashe Caribbean Performing Arts Ensemble, have joined forces to generate awareness and combat the spread of the disease. Addressing the...

Minister of Health, John Junor has pointed out that with the advances in HIV/AIDS care, individuals who are diagnosed early with HIV could live healthy normal lives with the appropriate treatment and monitoring. The Minister was addressing the opening of the Immunology Centre at the National Laboratory, on Slipe Pen Road recently. He reiterated that equipment, facilities and drugs to...

An Immunology Centre is now in operation at the National Public Health Laboratory at Slipe Pen Road, in Kingston, with facilities to offer Viral Load testing, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology to reduce risk of window period transmission during blood screening and CD4 count testing for HIV patients. According to Minister of Health, John Junor, who was speaking at the...

Nineteen-year-old Jason is the typical teenager. He dreams of one day owning a car, he likes hanging out with his friends and he has visions of getting married and fathering children. There is however one exception that makes his life different from that of the average teenager. For the past two years Jason has had to live with the knowledge...

As of November 1, beneficiaries of the National Health Fund (NHF) will pay less for medications and diabetic monitoring supplies following an 80 per cent increase in the subsidy paid by the NHF. Chief Executive Officer of the NHF, Rae Barrett who made the announcement at a press breakfast at the Terra Nova Hotel in today also outlined that there...

Lesson For Life, a global campaign, which seeks to encourage children to take action in their communities to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and to support those who are affected, was formally launched today (September 30) at the Half-Way-Tree Primary School in Kingston. Over 500,000 children in Jamaica will be taking part in the campaign, which is being organized...

Senior citizens in Clarendon on Tuesday (Sept. 27) participated in a health fair designed to promote healthy lifestyles among the elderly. The health fair, which was held at the St. Gabriel's Anglican Church Hall in May Pen, was organized by the National Council on Senior Citizens (NCSC). Millicent Thompson, Programme Organizer for the Council, told JIS News that the fair...

The Portland Health Department has designated October as Portland Health Month, and a number of activities have been planned to mark the observance. The month of activities, which will be held under the theme: 'Preserving the nation's wealth thru' personal and community health', will get underway on Sunday, October 2 with a church service at the Manchioneal Anglican Church, to...

Jamaica has been selected to be part of an elite group of countries to spearhead a campaign aimed at uniting the world in eliminating HIV and AIDS among children. A project of the United Nations Children's Fund, the five-year campaign, which will be launched on October 25, is designed to sensitise the global community about the pandemic and how it...

Chief Executive Officer of the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund, W. 'Billy' Heaven has reported that the Fund has disbursed some $965 million to several projects, since its inception three years ago. In regard to the Fund's focus on the health sector, Mr. Heaven said to date, CHASE has given its approval to 80 projects valued at...