Health sector on track for MDGs — CMO

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

DESPITE the numerous challenges facing Jamaica's health sector, including the mass migration of health workers, chief medical officer at the Ministry of Health Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester, yesterday sought to assure the sector that the country was still on target to meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

"We are right on target as we as a country seek to become very efficient (and) cost-effective in what we do -- provide quality care -- and as we seek to re-orient our health systems and health service delivery to be more people focused," she said.

Dr Campbell-Forrester was addressing health officials gathered at the Medallion Hall hotel in St Andrew yesterday for a two-day workshop to measure Jamaica's human resources in the health sector.

"There will always need to be checks and balances and so monitoring and evaluation are critical components of the human resource process," she said.

Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO representative to Jamaica Dr Ernest Pate, said serious consideration needs to be given to the quality of care that is given in the sector. He believes that assessing the skills of the workforce; improving the working environment and addressing the migration of health workers are just some of the ways healthcare can be improved.

"Where we are losing most of our professionals is in the middle management level -- those people who have had 12-15 years of experience; those individuals who would be the leaders and supervisors and the guiding force in our health care work force," he said in reference to a recent World Bank report that looked at nurses in the region.

Health minister Rudyard Spencer said the workshop would allow health workers to design a measurement methodology for human resources in health.

"I believe that the public sector in general has a deficiency in the areas of monitoring, measurement and evaluation that must be addressed with some urgency. In health, we are dealing literally with life and death issues," he said.

He, too, believes that Jamaica has made significant strides in improving the health sector.

"Indeed, we have achieved much, but we are engaged in a daily struggle to maintain our goals and to move forward in the achievement of a broader range of freedoms for our people to enjoy," he said.

--Nadine Wilson

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Health sector on track for MDGs — CMO