Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is today (June 26) hitting back at opposition calls for the resignation of several high-ranking public officials within his portfolio, citing their failure to curb a ballooning maternal mortality rate.

The PNP Patriots, the youth arm of the opposition People’s National Party, called for the immediate resignation of Dunstan Bryan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and chief medical officer Dr Jacqueline Bisasor-McKenzie.

This followed an increase in the country’s maternal mortality rate. Since 2016, Jamaica’s maternal mortality rate has remained above 100 per 100,000 live births, with the highest reported rate being 211.3 per 100,000 live births in 2021.

Opposition senator Peter Bunting last week called for the resignation of the board at Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), chaired by businessman Wayne Chen, following an increase in the country’s maternal mortality rate. 

Bunting said the southern region has seen maternal deaths skyrocket tenfold, from 26 per 100,000 live births in 2017 to an unprecedented 273 per 100,000 by 2022.

In response to what he called a synchronised witch-hunt, Tufton chided the opposition for ‘grasping at straws’ in a desperate attempt to score political points.

“The past week, we have seen a sustained and coordinated set of attacks on our civil servants and volunteers in the public health system by the opposition party. I have observed no less than five spokespersons and between eight and nine releases from that organization, among other things, calling for the resignation of the chief medical officer, the permanent secretary, and the board chairs of the Southern Regional Health Authority and the North East Regional Health Authority, citing spurious reasons for those claims,” said the minister at this morning’s post-Cabinet press briefing.

Tufton said the recent calls made by the opposition are unwarranted attacks against public servants, their reputation, professionalism, and the institutions that they represent.

“The opposition has clearly decided that their best hope for political office is to pursue what I would classify as a carpet bombing strategy—in other words, throw as much mud as you can imagine, as you can conjure up in your imagination, and hope something will stick. It is, in my view, a morally bankrupt strategy that should not be supported or encouraged. Let me say as a public servant and one who aspires to higher office, where we are now and want to continue so to do, but with a lot of experience, that burning down the house to improve your chances of controlling it is an indication of moral bankruptcy and does not serve the interest of the Jamaican people,” Tufton said.

He further urged professionals in the public health system to ignore the noise as the country appreciates the effort they make in the healthcare system.