Service Club Donates Refrigerators to Immunization Programme

The Ministry of Health's efforts to provide immunisation services to children in every nook and cranny of the island, has been strengthened with the handing over of two refrigerators by the Kiwanis Club of Constant Spring.

The appliances, valued at $100,000, will be placed at the York Town Health Centre in Clarendon and the Bethel Town Health Centre in Westmoreland.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, who addressed the brief handing over ceremony held this on August 15 at his downtown Kingston offices, said that the refrigerators will assist in maintaining the country’s stellar immunisation programme.

"Jamaica has been acknowledged among the most successful countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). Our programme is cited as a model for other nations,” he said.

Through the immunisation programme, the Minister said, Jamaica has been able to eliminate a number of vaccine-preventable diseases and reduce infant and child mortality.

He informed that last year, the country achieved 100 per cent coverage for tuberculosis (BCG), 92 per cent for polio, diphtheria, pertussis or whooping cough and tetanus (DPT), hepatitis B and haemophilus influenxa type B (HIB), and 88 per cent coverage for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

The Health Minister noted that the country’s successful immunisation programme is grounded in the creation of a primary health care system, which focuses on prevention services.

He thanked the Kiwanis Club of Constant Spring for its donation, stating that “this administration is keen on public/private partnerships as a way to further develop the health sector and acquire the resources needed to assist with the health of our population.”

President of the club, Andrew Wong, said the donation, which will assist in improving service delivery, represents the members’ contribution to the country’s ‘Jamaica 50’ celebrations.

He said that the club has a record of assisting the social sector particularly in education, and will “continue to serve the children of our homeland and the wider communities at large."

The Kiwanis Club of Constant Spring was established in June 2000.