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Jamaica is the 53rd country to report the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, following the two confirmations on May 29. Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, told journalists at a media briefing at Jamaica House on Monday (June 1) that both persons who were confirmed had recently travelled to the United States, which has reported 7,927 cases with 11 deaths, as...

The country's stockpile of antiviral drugs for the treatment of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus has been bolstered with the donation of more than $1 million worth of medication from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). World Health Organisation (WHO)/PAHO Representative for Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, Dr. Ernest Pate, this morning (June 2) handed over approximately 3,500 boxes of...

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, says Jamaica's ability to achieve the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, has been significantly boosted by the Government's decision to abolish user fees in public hospitals and renew the primary health care system. Speaking at the launch of Jamaica's national report on the MDGs at...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, will be at the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay, St. James this week and will be addressing the Eighteenth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), which is scheduled to take place from Wednesday June 3, 2009, to Thursday, June 4, 2009. COHSOD is being held under the theme "Winds...

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, has assured the country that the health authorities were fully prepared to deal with the two cases of Influenza A (H1N1) virus confirmed in Jamaica on Friday (May 29) and ensure containment. "Our surveillance system was able to quickly detect the cases, and we have initiated our response plan to ensure containment," Mr. Spencer...

Two imported cases of Influenza A (H1N1) have been identified in Jamaica and contained. The persons had traveled to New York, in the United States, which has recorded a number of confirmed Influenza A (H1N1) cases. The cases were quickly detected as a result of the Ministry's heightened surveillance and monitoring mechanisms. The Ministry's surveillance and monitoring team has detected...

Director of Health Promotion and Protection at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Eva Fuller, says that the Ministry has been working with various entities to get the CARICOM labelling standards revised to require graphics in messages on cigarette boxes. "Studies have shown that they do work, (graphics) they do deter people, persons who have already started smoking; it increases the...

Head of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Dr. Wayne McLaughlin, has advocated greater use of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) evidence, to help solve crimes in the country. Making his presentation entitled, 'DNA: Solving Crimes the Scientific Way', at the Jamaica Young Scientists Forum (JYSF), held at Jamaica House on May 28,...

The Ministry of Health, on May 28, continued its series of workshops geared at educating health professionals about the needs of persons with disabilities, at its Downtown Kingston offices. Consultant Advisor on a special project for the disabled in the Ministry of Health, Floyd Morris, explained that the training health professionals are receiving through these workshops, will enable them to...

A new mental health centre, complete with three consultation rooms and a waiting area, was officially opened on May 28 in Greater Portmore, St. Catherine. The only facility of its kind in the community, it was constructed with the assistance of the United States of America military, under its project, Beyond The Horizon. Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, Director of...

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Health and Education will be involved in two meetings in Montego Bay, Jamaica next week. First they will convene the Eighteenth Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) and then will meet with their Latin American counterparts in preparation for a meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)....

Several reggae, gospel and dancehall artistes will be performing at the charity event, MUSIC in the name of LIFE on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre. Music in the name of LIFE is a benefit family-concert, to fundraise $2.5 million for Martha's House in Central Kingston, operated by the Mustard Seed Communities which suffered loss of...