Blog

Barbados to Offer Universal Healthcare to Caricom Residents

The Barbados ministry of health is preparing a document to be submitted to parliament that will offer free healthcare to all CARICOM nationals residing on the island. This will be a very progressive move that is inline with the government’s policy on universal healthcare. The emphasis will be on the delivery of primary and urgent care services to this population which they anticipate will lessen the demand on emergency care at the Queen Elizabeth public hospital in the capital Bridgetown. [Read more…]

Taiwan & St. Kitts Join Forces to Reduce Chronic Kidney Disease

Taiwan is going to provide technical assistance to St. Kitts in several projects, Enhancing Agricultural Adaptive Capacity to Climate Variability Project, the Nevis Pinney’s Beach Project, the Capacity Building Project for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Kidney Disease, and the Land Administration Information System Project. The major objective of these projects is to add to the further development of the twin-island state and improve the lives of its citizens and residents.

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Chinese Medical Team to Brighten Jamaican Eyes

In 2009 the Jamaican government signed a bilateral agreement with Cuba to establish the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme operating from three locations in Kingston, namely the Kingston School of Nursing, National Chest Hospital and St Joseph’s Hospital. Since then thousands of patients have received eye care prior to and subsequent to surgery, along with treatment of diabetic retinopathy and anterior segment laser, in addition to cataract and pterygium. Patients also benefited from laboratory, optometry, clinical and ophthalmic services.

Now a similar partnership called ‘China Bright Journey Eye Care Mission’ where an 11-member Chinese medical team will perform cataract surgeries on 500 Jamaican patients operating out of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), this will be the second visit Bright Journey Eye Car mission to Jamaica the first was in 2015 where 200 patients had cataract surgeries performed. [Read more…]

Colorectal cancer increasing in Jamaica

According to the Jamaica Cancer Society (JCS), cancer of the colon is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths in the Jamaican population. The Jamaica Cancer Registry reported an incidence of 13 per 100,000 people locally in males and females previously but this number has increased in males to 17 per 100,000 in the last five years. Health professionals do not have an explanation for this increase in males but it is definitely a cause for concern. Like cervical cancer however, colon cancer can be prevented with colonoscopy screening to detect the pre- cancerous stage in the form of colon polyps. These can then be removed from the colon before cancer forms. [Read more…]

IDB Study Predicts Health and Education Manpower Shortage In Jamaica by 2040

Jamaican doctors nurses — Jamaican doctors & nurses

A recent study done by the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) predicts that Jamaica will need just under 50,000 additional doctors and nurses and a similar amount for teachers by year 2040. On a wider scope the study revealed that Latin America and the Caribbean will need approximately 12 million teachers, 3 million doctors and 8 million nurses by the year 2040. For decades it as been well documented that region has been losing its health professionals at an alarming rate particularly for those who are working in the public sector where working conditions are often described as deplorable and medical supplies are in short supply and medical equipment is either broken or inoperable.

Compounding this situation is that as fast as health professionals are fully trained they are quickly lured away by recruiters to work in greener pastures abroad and this particularly true for specialist nurses. The solutions are complex as it requires that governments have to increase salaries and improve working conditions and provide other incentives for health professionals to remain in place and unfortunately this competes with other national priorities like energy, trade and tourism, with healthcare and education ending up at the bottom of this list. It is ironic that in order for a nation to be able thrive and prosper it must have an educated and healthy workforce.