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Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer, has said that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not take place without a paradigm shift in the health and environment sectors. Making his contribution in the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, yesterday (June 3), Mr. Spencer said that these two sectors account (directly or indirectly) for...

Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer, has said that a committee has been established to aid in the renewal of the country's Primary Health Care system. He pointed out that by September 2008, the committee would develop the concept and framework for a renewed Primary Health Care System in Jamaica; develop a strategic plan for a comprehensive and renewed...

Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer has assured that all relevant stakeholders have been engaged regarding the removal of user fees at public health facilities, except the University Hospital of the West Indies. He said all are now onboard and committed to ensuring that the policy succeeds. "We have met with every critical player in healthcare in Jamaica especially...

Think about all the things that persons do with their hands: write, offer handshakes, nibble on their nails when nervous or hungry, pick their nose, open doors of cars, offices, shops and bathrooms, hold the rail in the bus. the list is endless. But how often do persons wash these hard working appendages attached to their upper limbs, daily? For...

Heads of Government and top health officials from across the region are expected to be in full attendance at the first ever CARICOM Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which will take place on September 15 in Trinidad and Tobago. According to Dr. Edward Green, CARICOM Assistant Secretary General, the main objective of the Summit is to forge dialogue on the...

The Noel Holmes Hospital and Westhaven Children's Home in Hanover are to benefit from medical equipment, toys and sundry items, donated by 'Friends' of the institutions. These items will be handed over by Gloria Leslie and her husband, David, when they visit the island in March. Mrs. Leslie is the Founder and Chairman of the Friends of the Noel Holmes...

Cabinet has approved the award of a contract for repair work to be carried out at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon. Economic Maintenance Products Limited has been contracted to rectify defects at the hospital over a 12-week period, at a cost of some $58.4 million. Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, who gave details of the contract at yesterday's (January...

The efforts of the Pesticides Control Authority to register premises to sell restricted pesticides and to license pest control operators, is being met with some measure of success. According to information contained in the 2004 Annual Report of the Health Ministry, during the 2003/04 reporting period, 18 new products were registered and 42 applications were received, 34 of which were...

With the festive season in full swing, the Ministry of Health is reminding Jamaicans to make sure that the food of their pets is properly secured from rodents. Linnette Peters, Director of Veterinary Public Health in the Ministry of Health told JIS News that during this season, persons tended to prepare a lot of food, resulting in lots of leftovers....

The first cochlear implant surgery to be undertaken in the Caribbean will be done at the Kingston Public Hospital on Saturday (December 3). The medical team will be led by prominent Jamaican otolaryngologist and surgeon, Dr. Howard Francis of Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Ediel Brown, Chief of the Ear, Nose and Throat facility at the Kingston Public and Bustamante...

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...