By Fernando Davis

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton says the Adopt-A-Clinic initiative continues to be an important health drive which has been working wonders for communities across the island.

Tufton, who visited the Negril Health Centre for an Adopt-Clinic ceremony and also Little London –both in Westmoreland –where a public health team was conducting COVID-19 testing on November 27, added that he is happy with the role the private sector has been playing, especially at a time when Jamaica is battling “one of the worst pandemics known to man.”

“The Adopt-A-Clinic programme is an important initiative which we have been undertaking…which was launched some three years ago,” Tufton reminded.

“It was created to enhance the clinic infrastructure by engaging civil society, including members of our diaspora, as contributors towards improving the delivery of primary health care.”

Tufton added that the programme is transparent and has been doing exactly what it was intended to do in giving persons in communities across the island better access to affordable health care.

The minister said he was personally impressed with the work of the Negril Chamber of Commerce and its contribution towards the health sector, noting that they embodied and exemplify the true meaning of good corporate citizens.

Tufton, in the meantime, noted that his visit to Little London was to get an up close and personal look at the public health team that was conducting COVID-19 testing in the area.

“I am using the occasion to observe the testing process and to thank our workers on the front line for their extensive contribution to the fight against COVID-19,” he noted.

Tufton further pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant public health challenge that Jamaica and the world has faced since the 1918 Spanish Flu, which, he noted, infected an estimated 500 million people and caused a reported 50 million deaths globally.

“Today, after eight months, COVID-19 has dealt a severe blow to economies right across the world, while requiring a never-before-seen level of resource mobilisation to finance national public health response plans,” he added.

“This is in order to protect public health and, in particular, the health of those with vulnerabilities, including non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs have been a scourge on the Jamaican society, with some 70 per cent of Jamaicans suffering from an NCD, including diabetes, hypertension and cancer, in addition to mental illness. COVID-19 has, therefore, reinforced the need for persons to know their health status and to engage in good health-seeking behaviours.”