Jamaica National Building Society GM commends Government for making positive steps in health care sector
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Earl Jarrett, General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) has commended the Government for making a positive step in the area of health care with the Parliamentary debate on the Health Facilities (Medical Laboratories) Bill. The Bill seeks to establish a Medical Laboratories Council to define, monitor and regulate the activities of medical laboratories.
“We understand the importance of having such an Act to govern the quality of service delivery that medical labs provide so that the public is assured of consistent, high quality,” he stated.
Mr. Jarrett was speaking at the recent 40th anniversary banquet of Central Medical Laboratories at the Hilton Kingston hotel.
However, he said that while the country has made strides in the area of health care, “there is much to be done to create the kind of health service that offers the best quality care to everyone who needs it.”
The General Manager implored health care providers, such as Central Medical Laboratories, to be globally competitive through reinvestment in technology and training. “The global village has opened up vast potential for trade in services and the Caribbean Single Market is providing wider markets for you to explore, thereby extending your services to countries outside of Jamaica,” Mr. Jarrett said, adding that they must be committed to making it happen despite limiting factors which may exist.
On the other hand, he indicated that they could not accomplish this unless Jamaica has a healthy population with people with clear minds and who are physically well so that they can give of their best to the country’s productive sector.
Jarrett stated, “most of the health problems faced in the society today are rooted in the lifestyles of individuals”.
He cited a lifestyle survey in Jamaica’s 2005 Human Development Report, which showed that 30 per cent of males and 60 per cent of females are obese or overweight, while the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among them stood at 20 per cent and eight per cent respectively.
He also pointed to the ‘Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles in Jamaica’ study conducted in April 2004, which shows that chronic diseases, including heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, and cancer account for 56 per cent of deaths in Jamaica annually.
He noted that the 2005 Economic and Social Survey also includes some startling information regarding violence-related injuries. The May Pen hospital spent close to $9 million to treat violence related injuries in the admissions, accidents and emergencies and surgical procedures in 2005. Of the 275,000 patients seen at the Kingston Public Hospital, over the past five years, almost 100,000 were as a result of violent injuries.
“We have a good health care system but we have to give it a chance to work for us, and that is by ensuring that lifestyle diseases and preventable injuries are minimized in order to free up the health system,” Mr Jarrett implored.
