KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health, Fenton Ferguson says that Jamaican and Cuban engineers have assessed 370 pieces of equipment in 20 hospitals and 98 health-centres island wide in order to procure spare parts.

“The biomedical engineering project has led to more effective management of our equipment, increased confidence in equipment repairs and functionality, increased availability of equipment and significantly reduced down time,” the health minister said. 

Based on the assessment, a detailed spare-parts list has been submitted for procurement. 

Additionally, procurement of parts for dental equipment has already started and some repairs have been done.  

The project is as a result of a Biomedical contract and an Agency Agreement for the procurement of spare-parts signed with the Government of Cuba for the repair and servicing of equipment in the public health sector. 

“This programme will result in a significant improvement in the way in which equipment is maintained in the public health sector. It will also increase the number of working equipment we have in our facilities,” Ferguson said.

He added that the sharing of knowledge of the Cuban team is also an important component of the agreement and has resulted in a knowledge transfer to the local cadre of biomedical engineers.