CHASE Fund Continues to Support Health Sector Through Targeted Investments

The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund utilises comprehensive and targeted investments in Health and Wellness to provide support for the health sector.

In a recent interview with JIS News, Chief Executive Officer of the CHASE Fund, W. Billy Heaven, explains that CHASE’s health-sector strategy is rooted in four core areas.

These include equipping and upgrading health facilities using 67 per cent of its health budget or approximately $4.2 billion.

There is also healthy lifestyle promotion, to which 14 per cent of the budget or $885 million is allocated. The Fund also provides financial support to medical research, training and medical assistance.

The CEO contends that the CHASE Fund is shaping a modern health system that is rooted in science, equity and long-term sustainability, while adding that it is also shaping the future through research and training.

In line with its emphasis on innovation, CHASE is funding a Cell Culture Laboratory at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to support groundbreaking research into breast cancer and prostate cancer in Black populations.

Mr. Heaven explains that, historically, most pharmaceutical research has been conducted using Caucasian populations, creating disparities in treatment effectiveness for people of African descent. He points out that undertaking research of this nature is a game changer for the population.

“This research is life-changing. It brings equity to health science and places Jamaica at the centre of global conversations around inclusivity in medicine,” the CEO says.

The Fund announced an initial investment of $30 million geared towards research to improve the representation of cell lines of black women in breast cancer research being undertaken at the University of the West Indies.

CHASE is also supporting the acquisition of equipment for the ACRJ Molecular Lab at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The funding will also cover reagents and materials for a three-year period to support research in Breast Cancer Cell Line Advancement and Characterisation to improve the representation of breast cancer cell lines from Jamaican women.

The CHASE Fund is investing heavily in human resource development, offering specialised scholarships in critical areas such as Paediatric Nephrology, Paediatric Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Neurosurgery, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Biomedical Engineering, Medical Physics, and support for medical students in their penultimate and final years.

In terms of recently acquired equipment and institutional support, the CHASE Fund provided $66 million for a modern Retinal Service Lab at the Kingston Public Hospital; $38 million towards the purchase of seven ventilators and a theatre air conditioning unit at the Bustamante Hospital for Children; and forged partnerships for the acquisition of dialysis equipment, including haemodialysis machines, as well as infrastructure upgrades at multiple public hospitals.

For his part, Chief Executive Officer at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Anthony Wood, is grateful for the support, which has helped in ensuring optimal use of the operating theatre.

“CHASE coming on board and partnering with us has significantly helped us to deal with our cases in a timely manner. We welcome the partnership, and we are looking forward to more partnerships with the CHASE Fund,” he says, adding that a three-year service contract was a bonus to ensure that there would be no downtime and that the unit would be serviced as needed.

The CHASE Fund also champions non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, with nearly $1 billion allocated to healthy lifestyle initiatives. These include wellness parks, gyms, and public awareness programmes aimed at reducing lifestyle-related health burdens.

The Fund, which was established in 2002, channels resources into the advancement of culture, health, arts, sports and education in Jamaica.

Its health portfolio focuses on strengthening national capacity through infrastructure, training, research, and policy support, with a vision of building a resilient, equitable, and inclusive health system for all Jamaica.