After a blocked artery almost caused her premature death, heart disease survivor Lorna Morgan is encouraging other women to be aware of their risks and to not ignore symptoms. The 75-year-old Montego Bay resident, who was diagnosed in November 2023, tells JIS News that she had been having chest pains for some time, which she largely ignored. “I wasn’t doing...

Two civil society organisations (CSOs), Children First and the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD), have been engaged under the Social Justice (SO-JUST) Project to provide access to justice services for the society’s most vulnerable. The aim is to facilitate these provisions for persons with hearing impairments and children in contact and conflict with the law. Implemented by the United...

In 2016, Robert Robinson, Transport Fleet Manager for the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), got the brilliant idea to retrofit new buses into ambulances, as there was a shortage in the region, and today it is paying dividends. “We were short on vehicles, the work load was too much for the number of units we had, so it was proposed...

Registered Nurse, Shertonia Walker, is intent on positively impacting lives and creating employment opportunities within the healthcare sector through entrepreneurship. After completing her undergraduate studies at the Northern Caribbean University in 2021, the 25-year-old started C.A.R.E Nursing Services and More, a healthcare practice aimed at providing flexible and affordable access to medical services for Jamaicans. The St. Thomas native tells...

The Westmoreland Public Health Department is maintaining a robust dengue prevention programme in the parish, which has seen a drastic decline in the Aedes index. Chief Public Health Inspector for Westmoreland, Steve Morris, told JIS News that the Aedes index in the parish as of December was five per cent, which is the international standard. The Aedes index refers to...

For more than 20 years, Jamaican entertainer and international recording artiste, Orville “Shaggy” Burrell and his Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation have supported the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) programme of ‘mending little hearts’. Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the hospital, Dr. Sherard Little, tells JIS News that the Foundation’s involvement with the health facility has served the institution well, adding...

When Dr. Teddy Barks is on duty at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) you can feel the excitement of the children, see their wide smiles and for a moment many temporarily forget their surroundings as they embrace him. Dr. Teddy Barks is a golden retriever that is part of the Animal Assisted Recovery Care (AARC) Pilot Project, which was...

Medical missions have been an important feature of service delivery at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) over the 60 years of the hospital’s existence, and the institution continues to benefit tremendously from the support of external medical teams. Consultant Anaesthetist and Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at BHC, Dr. Cleopatra Patterson, tells JIS News that...