Twenty hernia patients at the St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital have benefitted from well-needed surgeries, freeing them of constant pain, and enabling them to return to work and other activities. The surgeries were all performed on Labour Day on May 23, as part of an effort by the hospital to reduce waiting time for operations. Regional Director of the North...

Twelve-year-old Sanjay Johnson’s return to training in late April, in preparation for the 1500-metre race at the just-concluded primary school athletics championship, could almost be described a miraculous. About a week earlier, he had undergone surgery at the Bustamante Hospital for Children to fix a hole in his heart. Normally, such a procedure would require that the patient be hospitalised...

Several adolescents are lauding the work of the Teen Hub, which was established at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre in Kingston, more than one year ago, to offer career guidance and clinical services to youngsters who frequent the facility. It was introduced as a response to reports of negative behaviours, including violence, truancy and risky sexual practices by adolescents, and...

The Ministry of Health and Wellness’ programme to ensure more timely access to healthcare for Jamaicans is progressing well with an overall 40 per cent increase in patient visits to targeted health centres. Concomitant with this is a decrease in waiting time at hospital emergency rooms, Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry, Dr. Jacqueline Bisasor-McKenzie, tells JIS News The ‘Reducing...

The Ministry of Health is appealing for more Jamaicans to get tested for diabetes, which currently affects over 236,200 citizens. Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Director of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Injuries Prevention, Dr. Tamu Davidson, says a 2016/17 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey shows that four out of 10 persons with diabetes were unaware that they had...

St. Ann native, Simone Palmer, took the decision to become a practical nurse after undergoing a life-changing experience occasioned by her three-year-old daughter, Ashalae Grant, being diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Ms. Palmer, who encountered financial and other challenges in the lead-up to her daughter’s surgery for the condition, which doctors diagnosed in 2015 when she was just a toddler,...

When you think of Martial Arts, I’m sure your mind immediately flashes to Old Kung-Fu movies from the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s.  Now try to reconcile that image with that of a slender 29-year old female Taekwondo fighter, with a noticeably impaired right arm. That female is Shauna-Kay Hines. In medical terms, Shauna-Kay Hines is classified as a...

The National Health Fund (NHF) is making healthcare affordable for Jamaicans, through the provision of drug subsidies valued in excess of $30 billion to benefit more than 800,000 persons over its 15 years of operation. This in addition to more than $17 billion in grants to fund health projects, including rehabilitation and upgrading of health facilities. “This is an organisation...

Four health facilities will benefit from the proceeds of the Jamaica Civil Service Association’s (JSCA) Centenary Charity Grand Prix 5K Run/Walk. The four-stage series forms part of the events marking 100 years of service by the public-sector union. The beneficiaries are the St. Ann’s Bay Health Department in the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA); Whitehouse Health Centre in the...