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Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr. Alfred Dawes
By Prince Moore
The parliamentary opposition is cautioning that Jamaica's healthcare system is approaching crisis levels and is calling for Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton to conduct a reform of the health sector.
Opposition Spokesman on Health Dr. Alfred Dawes says recent tragedies affecting public health system users are of grave concern.
He is reminding the government that mismanagement and corruption in the health sector are paid for in human lives.
Dr. Dawes claims that despite the increase in the Health Ministry's budget, the misallocation of funds has left Jamaicans feeling worse off than before the pandemic.
"We are seeing where a hospital in Chapelton has been refurbished and opened to much fanfare, yet it is understaffed and users are having to find their way to the May Pen Hospital to access services that were promised. We see the same thing happening now where there has not been any plan in place to train additional staff and to increase the cadre of workers out west who would be now manning the children's hospital that is due to be open soon. What will happen is that that children's hospital will be a white elephant because we will not have enough staff to run that hospital," he warned.
Ventilators
Meanwhile, Dr. Dawes has called for the Ministry of Health to indicate the whereabouts of 105 ventilators that were donated to the government.
He said the ventilators were provided through the efforts of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, the European Union and concerned private individuals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Dawes said hospitals are in dire need of resources to provide proper healthcare.
"We are seeing where funds are being allocated for mega projects for rehabilitation of buildings, but the core deliverables that will see Jamaicans enjoying a better standard of healthcare are not being comprehensively addressed," he argued.
"We had donations that would have seen an additional 105 ventilators in our public health system. That money was pledged by partners but we have not heard anything at all about where those ventilators are. We have not heard anything else about ICU capacity and plans to expand ICU capacity beyond what was given to us as the plan for the 105 ventilators during COVID," the opposition spokesman complained.