Your columnist, Vasily, has penned a scathing article essentially describing Dr Chris Tufton’s stewardship as minister of health and wellness as a failure. The article is replete with speculations and conjectures representing a Hackett job at discrediting the minister. We are all entitled to our opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts.

What are the facts? 

Dr Tufton has presided over the most challenging period in our post-independent history, including a global health pandemic—COVID-19, Chik-V and Zika-V—and performed better than most countries, including industrialised countries, in terms of deaths per capita. 

Dr Tufton had not sought to take credit for these accomplishments; instead has credited the team effort led by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, his Cabinet and the health team. This is leadership that is humble, and which cannot be challenged by mere opinions.

Similarly, Dr Tufton’s leadership at the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) has seen the largest capital expenditure on public health infrastructure taking place with new hospitals, health centres and major renovations taking place, resulting in more comfortable settings for patients and staff.

At present, more than J$3.5 billion in health centres upgrades and over US$200 million of hospital buildout are on the way, including Spanish Town, St Ann’s Bay, Cornwall Regional and the new Western Child and Adolescent hospitals. Never since independence has so many projects been undertaken by a Government, which will lead to more beds, more operating theatres, larger A&E facilities, and more diagnostics. These are works in progress in some cases, but progress can be fodder for shortsighted persons who cannot or do not want to envision the implications of these projects for improved health services once completed. Again, opinions are not facts. 

Under Dr Tufton’s stewardship, the National Health Fund has added more coverage for more sickness categories and afforded more Jamaicans free drugs than ever before. Three million prescriptions were written in 2024 as opposed to less than one million in 2016. The same can be said of more staff added under the compensation review process—nurses, public health inspectors, vector workers, etc—with higher salaries and permanent posts. That’s not opinion, that is a fact. 

Dr Tufton has also pioneered new policies around primary health care reform, where more doctors, nurses and services are offered at the community level. This has resulted, as targeted, in more visits to health centres and fewer to hospitals in 2024—an important policy success. This is not opinion; these are facts. 

Other creative and effective programmes under this minister and the Government include animal-assisted therapy at Bustamante Hospital for Children, oral health Second Chance Smiles to give teeth replacement to Jamaicans who have lost permanent teeth and other oral health support, diabetics focus, New Limb, New Life to give amputees prosthetic limbs, among others. These programmes have seen more participation and benefits in public health than ever before. In fact, the Government has increased the budget to support Jamaicans from $60 billion in 2016 to more than $120 billion in 2025, an indication of commitment to improving a once-neglected sector.

Your writer seems to accept opinions of the critics who cite rumours or conjectures around missteps as a failure of the minister’s tenure or worse, corruption. Those are opinions, not facts. How can these be used to objectively judge stewardship? 

I have never heard Dr Tufton say the system is perfect. In fact, I have heard him say there is still much work to be done. Any objective analysis will place where we are in the context of where we are coming from, in this case, the days when surgeons wore garbage bags as protective gear to do surgeries, as said by one prominent doctor (now politician), have long passed under this Government. 

What Dr Tufton had said, which I agree with, is that in 2025, during the election campaign, the people are better off, where public health is concerned, than they were in 2016. More medication, more doctors, more nurses, improved health centres, hospitals under construction and better health crisis management. I agree with him. These are not reasons to conclude ministerial failure, unless the motive is ulterior to an objective assessment. 

Finally, if there is ever a test of success or failure of government policy and programmes, particularly in an emotional portfolio like health in our competitive democracy, it is how Jamaicans vote during national election time. The JLP Government has demonstrated electoral approval over the last three elections. Dr Tufton is a team player and would likely shy away from saying his stewardship and the role of MOHW contributed positively to these victories. I think those who are objective know what the obvious answer is.

Dr Tufton has played his part, and there are many reasons to be proud of his stewardship in a difficult portfolio.