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Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer, on Tuesday (March 3) defended the Government's decision to abolish user fees across the health sector, noting that the user fee structure was "regressive" and a "major impediment" to some persons, particularly the poor, accessing health care. "The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions 2007 shows that 50.8 per cent of the poorest quintile,...

Scores of young people in Port Maria, St. Mary, participated in a clean up exercise of the Pagee Beach in that town on Saturday, February 28. The clean-up, which commenced at 8:00 a.m. was spearheaded by the Pagee Youth Organisation for Sustainable Development, in conjunction with Food for the Poor, Fishing Village-Pagee, and Friends of Pagee. The project was conducted...

The Rotary Club of Mandeville has donated four blood pressure machines to the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester. In expressing thanks for the equipment at a handing over ceremony held recently at the hospital, Consultant in charge of the Accident and Emergency Department, Dr. Clive Lloyd said: "we are grateful for the machines from the Rotarians. They heard our pleas...

Executive Director of Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities, Ransford Wright, has said that while there was still much to be done, Jamaica was on the right track in terms of addressing HIV/AIDS among the disabled community. "We are not lagging behind, but we are not where we would want to be. There is much to be done and we...

Minister of Health and the Environment, Rudyard Spencer, has said that the health sector's response to the current global financial crisis, must be focused on social justice. Mr. Spencer said that health policies "must seek to help the most vulnerable retain as much of their disposable income for necessities such as safe food, decent shelter and transportation." The minister's address...

A Concert at Jamaica College (JC), Old Hope Road, Kingston, featuring several top Jamaican reggae artistes, will highlight activities planned for Peace Day, Tuesday, March 3. And during the extended peace campaign activities, which will run into April, reggae singer Tarrus Riley will activate his Start Anew campaign, in which he will talk to students of violence-proned schools in Kingston,...

The Public Relations and Environmental Health and Safety Departments of Jamalco, the bauxite and alumina company in Clarendon, will stage a Community Health Fair, tomorrow (February 26). The fair will take place at the Glad Tidings Church of the First Born, New Bowens, Halse Hall, in the parish, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This is in keeping with the...

Minister of Health Rudyard Spencer said that poor Jamaicans who use the public health facilities have saved over $1 billion since the abolition of user fees. "This policy has increased the disposable income of Jamaicans and has removed a major impediment to access to health care for poor people", Minister Spencer noted. He was responding to statements carried in the...

The St. Ann Health Department will be conducting a comprehensive Rodent Control Programme, in several communities in St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann, due to rat infestation. Public Health Inspector in charge of Vector Control Programmes in the parish, Mark Miller, told JIS News, that the programme would seek to complement the routine vector control services that are currently being carried...

The local health care sector is set to benefit from donations of hospital supplies, as well as opportunities for training medical personnel, as a result of the Third Annual Advancements in Medicine Conference, which opens at the University of the West Indies(UWI), Mona, on Monday(Feb 23). Dr. Sonia Copeland, Acting Director, Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health and a...

Over 300 participants are expected to attend the Third Annual Advancements in Medicine Conference, which will bring together health care professionals from the Caribbean, Canada, the United States of America and the wider Diaspora, as they seek to discuss cutting edge research findings and changes in the medical field. Under the theme: 'Transforming Research into Policy and Practice', the six-day...

Chief Justice Zaila McCalla was released from the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital of the West Indies, yesterday, after completing a series of tests. Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports(MICYS), the Hon. Olivia Grange, confirmed last night that the Chief Justice had completed the tests and was discharged from the hospital. The Minister had reported Wednesday that...