The Government has allocated $10.13 million to strengthen the national surveillance, prevention and control of infectious diseases project. Details are provided in the 2017-18 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. The objective of the project is to strengthen Jamaica’s response to the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and preparation for the threat of the Ebola virus disease (EVD). Specifically,...

Local Government Ministry Rolls Out Tax Collection Units, National Public Health Lab Gets New Equipment to Test for Zika and Chikungunya and JIPO to Host Entrepreneurial Workshops.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), on Friday (February 10), presented a new Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to the National Public Health Laboratory in Kingston. The equipment, valued approximately $6.4 million (US$50,000), will boost the lab’s capability to test for the Zika and Chikungunya viruses by enabling it to better analyse blood samples. The...

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Winston De La Haye, is appealing to Jamaicans to participate in the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey III, which is currently being carried out across the island by the Caribbean Institute for Health Research, in association with the Ministry. Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on January 4, Dr. De...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Development and Job Creation, Audrey Sewell, says the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology could be pivotal in the country’s fight against the spread of diseases and in the quest to improve general public health. She noted that GIS maps can assist in identifying disease patterns, risk factors, and sources of pollution...

Geography Awareness Week will be observed from November 9 to 18, and the focus will be on how geospatial technology can be used to promote good health. “There has been a rise in viruses, such as chikungunya and Zika, and therefore we want to look at how we can use geospatial technology to assist in reducing the transmission of these,”...

The Ministry of Health is appealing for persons to cooperate with interviewers, who will be in the field gathering data from September 1 to December 31, for the third Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey (JHLS III). The JHLS III is a community-based study of persons 15 years and older to determine current dietary intakes, lifestyle and behaviour patterns that have...

In light of the recent Chikungunya and Zik V outbreaks in Jamaica, the country is now on the lookout for other vector borne illnesses. This week Healthline takes a closer look at another illness carried by the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito Yellow Fever.

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, in collaboration with the National Works Agency (NWA), is actively exploring the use of new technology for road rehabilitation. State Minister for Works in the Ministry, Hon. Everald Warmington, said the new technology incorporates the use of “crumb rubber” in making asphalt for roads. Making his contribution to the 2016/17 Sectoral Debate...

Two New Mosquito Management Solutions are available on the local market to control the spread of Dengue and the Chikungunya and Zika Viruses.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, joined hands with volunteers in Gregory Park and Washington Mews in Portmore who took part in activities for the National Labour Day project in the communities. Accompanied by Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Hon. Christopher Tufton; Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie; and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment...

In a world of shrinking borders and the rapid movement of people between countries, it is easy for infectious diseases to take hold and to spread. As such, policymakers are finding that they have to utilize all the available  resources at their disposal to prevent the transmission, across borders,  of communicable, debilitating and in some cases, fatal diseases such as...