THE Ministry of Health has prepared an action plan to cope with any eventualities arising from the ongoing war in Iraq.

“(The ministry) will continue to provide quality health care to the population, while expanding traditional services such as those for ensuring the psychological well-being of our people,” said Senior Medical Officer of Health, Dr Marion Ducasse.

She was providing an update on the plan, Thursday morning, at the inter-ministerial meeting of the technical working group (TWG) set up to assess the impact of the war.

The TWG, which consists of a number of ministries and agencies, was established last week by Prime Minister P J Patterson. It meets weekly.

In addition, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, KD Knight, chairs daily and internal meetings at the ministry, which monitor the Iraq war.

Some of the health sector’s main areas of focus will be:

* Determining, preventing and controlling health risks to respond to all eventualities;

* Providing emergency medical services;

* Ensuring adequate public health;

* Focusing on environmental health;

* And strengthening the comprehensive emergency and disaster management approach.

Reiterating that medical and pharmaceutical supplies were at normal levels at this time, Dr Ducasse said special attention would be paid to vulnerable groups in the society, for example children and the elderly, as well as pregnant and lactating women. She stressed that collaboration with other sectors was vital to all aspects of the programme’s planning and implementation.

In its role as the government’s information arm, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) will provide a public education programme for Jamaicans at home and abroad.

Thursday’s meeting was chaired by Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, undersecretary for multilateral affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.