The Issue of Decent Health Care in Jamaica
The issue of decent healthcare in Jamaica is one which needs to be addressed.
A couple weeks ago I asked what would the JLP do differently as it relates to HEALTH CARE in Jamaica IF they should win the next election, as clearly the present government has failed MISERABLY on that issue.
I am still waiting on an answer that makes sense.
Day by day we hear of fellow Jamaicans being refused care, dying in hospital waiting rooms, having to wait years for surgery, of hospitals lacking the necessary equipment needed to save lives, where patients have to supply even their own gloves, cotton, etc.
The recent case of Shakera Facey really touched my heart. Shakera, a poor 19 year old Jamaican girl had a huge mass growing on her shoulder for months and despite numerous visits to private doctors and hospitals was unable to get a proper diagnosis.
After getting the gruesome news that she had bone cancer that had spread to her lungs, she was reportedly told by a doctor at the Spanish Town hospital “you suppose to do the chemo because it is a 50/50 chance. You know what name ‘kick the bucket’? You can dead anytime”.
It’s hard to fathom a physician actually speaking to a terminally ill teenager in this manner.
So at what point as JAMAICANS do we stand up and say NO MORE OF THIS?
When our POLITICIANS have health issues, the first thing they do is SEEK HELP OVERSEAS.
What does that tell US JAMAICANS about our HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?
Many of these HOSPITALS are so DISGUSTING that they honestly will make you SICK if GOD forbid you should be admitted there and are lucky enough to get a BED.
It’s 2015 and is this where we are as a COUNTRY that even BASIC HEALTH CARE IS LACKING?
So many people Jamaicans are suffering and all we can do is jump on POLITICAL BAND WAGONS in favor of the politician(s) we LOVE or whom we think will part the SEA OF IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY and LEAD us to the MOUNTAIN where we will drink COFFEE and eat cheese? SERIOUSLY?
We are indeed a lost people.
these articles are so pertinent and poignant to me . Only a few days ago I visited my 96 year old nurse maid in the Spanish Town hospital and I was moved to the point that I wanted to help…Not merely talking about it. Jamaicans here and abroad have made such indelible prints in their profession and we seem to be all’ managers’ in whatever field we aspire . I really shudder to think that our Health care system is so way behind. I really do believe that the Best way to tackle this problem is to continue to have media coverage 24/7, thus my writing here. As a PH graduate I want to make a difference in a land that is so rich ,to make it more sustainable with an infrastructure that cater to ALL the people. As of now I will continue to be NOT silent anymore
Most Jamacian dont understand the role of politicians they only want the party to win for themselves but not the good of all the people of the country. Let the politicians be a countable for the role they play in destroying the service industry in the country, school, hospital , welfare, water, garbage ect. It is so hard for me to be proud of a country like that. There are some crosses on us as black people. We make sure our professionals people run away from Jamaica. I know so many doctors, businessman, nurses, teachers left the island. They would have stayed if they where not afraid . The doctors from India have no respect for the black people. We did it to ourselves. Look at the retired nurse that came home after living in England she came home to help and they killed her.
Michelle, thank you so much for your article. When I saw the very same things you describe above last year, I was shocked and appalled, and when I wrote about it here, I did get a few negative comments. However, a country is only as good as the health and welfare of its’ people; and a country that cannot provide basic necessities for survival, such as food, water, shelter, and adequate medical care, will surely fail. The physicians and nurses I met when I was there were extremely overworked and without the supplies and other necessities needed to do their jobs. One physician, who was born in Jamaica but trained and worked in NYC for many years, returned to the island because he wanted to make a difference. Nurses cannot secure a job, even though the hospitals need them there terribly, the administrators are not permitted to hire anyone because the MOH will not permit it. I believe the physicians there do care about their patients; and I am also sure they are frustrated due to lack of help, lack of supplies, and no support. I see MD’s here who have 3,000 or more patients in their practice, and believe me, those are some very overworked and exhausted physicians. The use of nurse practitioners in Jamaica needs to be brought to the forefront, and the MOH needs to devise ways to put nurse practitioners in the areas that are so underserved. It is more economical to use NP’s also. God bless you.