The island’s foreign relations apparatus was forced into damage control mode as the Jamaican Government tried to minimise the fallout from a damning travel advisory issued by the United States Department of State urging its citizens against travelling to Jamaica.

Foreign Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said she engaged U.S. Embassy officials in discussions following Tuesday’s (January 23) travel advisory by the U.S. State Department cautioning Americans against coming to Jamaica due to the country’s inadequate health services and high crime rate.

Johnson Smith, in a statement on Thursday, January 25, said she has spoken to the U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica Nicholas Perry along with other U.S. Embassy officials to interrogate the issues detailed in the travel advisory.

“Notwithstanding our care and concern for the safety of all visitors to our island, and notwithstanding our understanding that the overall ranking of Jamaica has not deteriorated in this most recent advisory, the Government of Jamaica is disappointed that the language used does not reflect our country’s significant progress,” Johnson Smith stressed.

In its travel advisory, the U.S. State Department noted that public hospitals are under-resourced and cannot always provide high-level or specialised care.

Similarly, it said private hospitals require payment upfront before admitting patients and may not have the ability to provide specialized care while noting that ambulance services are not always readily available, especially in rural areas, and are not always staffed by trained personnel.

However, the foreign affairs minister said: “In recent years, the government has more than doubled its investments to strengthen our capacity to tackle crime and health-related challenges across the island to benefit our citizens and, indeed, everyone who wishes to visit Jamaica.”

“We are making serious improvements, although we still have much more to do to achieve all we wish to deliver. It is not significant that Jamaica has recorded a more than 20 per cent decline in serious crimes, along with strong improvements in arrests and prosecution. The Government has also been improving infrastructure and human resources and continues to increase its capacity to deliver improved healthcare,” she added.

Johnson Smith stressed that improvements in health and security continue to be among the government’s priorities and noted that engagement will continue with the U.S. and other development partners in these and other critical areas, as well as the matter of review of the advisory.

Meanwhile, Dr Christopher Tufton, minister of health and wellness, has reiterated the significant strides made in the advancing of the country’s healthcare service delivery.

“We have continuously committed to capital investment around infrastructure, increased technical competencies of our workforce and comprehensively reformed the organisation and development of our health professionals to deliver service with care and compassion. We continue to appeal for collaboration on the training of healthcare workers, given the mass recruitment of our staff to other global markets including the USA. The country, of course, is open to dialogue with our international partners to strengthen Jamaica’s healthcare system,” Tufton said.