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A team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP), headed by the Permanent Secretary, were recently in Cuba negotiating a technical cooperation agreement with the Cuban authorities in the areas of protected agriculture, including greenhouse and semi-protected technologies. The objective of the technical cooperation is to bolster the...

More than 200 children at the Polly Ground Primary School in St. Catherine will benefit from the addition of a new $9 million five-classroom block, which was officially handed over to the school on Friday (June 15) by Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry-Wilson. The block was built under the Ministry's Critically Needed School Spaces Programme, which uses pre-fabricated...

Manager of the Inspectorate Division of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Fay Anderson, has urged industry players to ensure that their products comply with conditions under the Standards Compliance Programme (SCP). "The programme ensures that local and imported goods sold in Jamaica comply with the acceptable standards covering health, safety, the environment and performance," Mrs. Anderson informed at a...

Some 30,000 visits were made to government health facilities during the first two weeks of implementation of the free health care policy for children under age 18. This was disclosed by the Minister of Health, Horace Dalley during his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 19). As at May 28, children under the...

The Child Development Agency (CDA) will be seeking to complete the Protocol for Child Abuse Prevention and Control in Residential Child Care Facilities (RCCF) during this fiscal year. According to a Ministry Paper tabled in the House of Representatives on June 19 by Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, the protocol is intended to raise awareness of the problem of child...

The Ministry of Health during this financial year intends to design a wider Health Information System (HIS), to among other things, facilitate efficient planning and management delivery of health care services. This disclosure was made by Minister of Health, Horace Dalley during his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 19). He pointed out...

Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, has said that during the current financial year, the government intends to upgrade the Renal Dialysis Unit at the Kingston Public Hospital, as well as procure 16 new dialysis machines, to provide better medical treatment for persons affected by kidney disease. "There is a great need to expand the dialysis services in the island to...

The National Health Fund (NHF) Individual Benefits Programme grew by just over 33 per cent for the 2006/07 financial year and by the end of May 2007, enrolment had exceeded 300,000 persons. This was announced by Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, during his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 19). He informed that...

Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, has said that in the last 12 months, the government has spent more than $1.8 billion on the construction and rehabilitation of public health facilities islandwide. The majority of these funds were provided by the National Health Fund (NHF) through its Institutional Benefits programme. Mr. Dalley, who was making his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral...

The success of the National HIV/AIDS/STI Control Programme has resulted in a decrease in the number of AIDS-related deaths, with 514 deaths in 2005 compared to 665 in 2004. "This is a 23 per cent reduction in deaths and based on data for the first half of 2006, deaths were further reduced by another 36 per cent," said Health Minister,...

The National Health Fund (NHF), last month, exceeded the $1.1 billion mark in paying claims subsidy for card benefits, with just under $400 million in drugs provided for beneficiaries under the Jamaica Drugs for the Elderly Programme (JADEP). According to a Ministry Paper tabled in the House of Representatives by Health Minister, Horace Dalley, yesterday (June 19) an increasing number...

Some 4,915 clinic visits were made to the child and adolescent mental health facilities during 2006.The 11 clinics across the island provide mental health care for children with behavioural and emotional problems. Minister of Health, Horace Daley, in his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 19), said that anti-social and risk-taking behaviours, school...