I want to thank Food for the Poor as it is this kind of charity not only in the good times but also what we could regard as bad times that makes a nation grow.
It was only two months ago that I was here receiving I/V fluids from Food For the Poor after Jamaica was impacted by a world-wide shortage. Having realized that there was a need in the health sector, Food for the Poor reacted immediately and through its Florida offices provided a stock of these supplies to our public health facilities.
This is one of several unrequested donations made over the years by Food for the Poor. In 2013, the agency donated 86 containers of medical items to the health sector with a value of close to $3.4 billion Jamaican dollars. It came as no surprise to me therefore that during the consultation with the charity on October 2, that they offered to assist the Ministry of Health in its efforts to manage the chikungunya virus.
There have been reports of a shortage of paracetamol in the private sector which is used to treat the virus but thankfully we have been able to maintain a constant stock in the public sector. This donation of two crates of paracetamol which consists of 1,600 bottles valued at US$7,040 will assist us to continue to do so. We expect that CHIKV will continue to affect Jamaicans for a period as this is a new disease for us so everyone is susceptible especially since the vector is the same one that carries dengue and dengue is endemic to Jamaica…READ MORE
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