Acting Chairman at the National Health Fund, Shane Dalling has announced that the organisation will be implementing preventative measures to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the Jamaican population.

He was speaking at a press conference last Tuesday (January 17) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

Dalling said reception received following the announcement of the expansion of the NHF card has been overwhelming and is an indication that health care is a serious concern in the country.

“This tells us that health care is a serious concern in the Jamaican population. The board of the NHF believe that we are going to be spending less on actual health care in terms of providing the benefits for persons with particular illness. We are going to be preventative, we are going to be shifting the focus on spending the money on preventing persons from getting there,” he said.

CEO at the National Health Fund, Everton Anderson said the number of beneficiaries of the Individual Benefits Programme grew significantly last year.

“Enrolment in the Individual Benefits Programme grew by 286,000 beneficiaries and as at December the numbers reached approximately 741,000 beneficiaries.”

Additionally, the cost to provide subsidies for the thousands of beneficiaries continues to increase over time.

“Non-communicable diseases have become a serious issue in Jamaica and we spend billions of dollars every year in treating those illnesses. What we seek to do going forward is really spending the money in preventing persons from becoming a patient of any NCD,” Dalling said.

“In the 2012/2013 fiscal year, the fund spent $3.1billion on claims as opposed to the 2021/2022 financial year where over $6.4billion was spent more than 100% increase over the 10-year period,” Anderson said.

Over the years the Ministry of Health and Wellness has been advocating for Jamaicans to adapt healthier lifestyle.

“What we are trying to do is to not get people on the programme any at all. In the year of our anniversary you will see greater presence from NHF in almost all aspect of life relating to health and wellness. We will not be overshadowing the ministry’s work but what we will be doing is complementing it far more,” Dalling added.

According to the chairman, going forward the organisation will be seeking to reduce the overrun budget that the government is spending on health care as it relates to non-communicable diseases.

“With this the government can redirect funding to core services, such as providing more equipment in the hospitals rather than spending the amount of money we are spending on no-communicable diseases,” Dalling said.

He further stated that the drive and the focus of the NHF will be public education to help in preventing NCDs among the Jamaican population.

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