New York USA — Jamaica’s health care system and other spheres of its development, will continue to benefit from the work of Dr Charles L Anderson Sr, the renowned medical practitioner who died here last month.

A commitment to continue Anderson’s legacy has come from the late doctor’s fiancée, Beverly Morrison who, along with Dr Jean Morse of the University of Buffalo and her husband founded the Jamaica Buffalo Innovative Enterprise.

It is one of several organisations with which Dr Anderson was involved and its main focus is to develop research laboratories at the University of The West Indies (UWI) to facilitate student research.

“This is being done in collaboration with the University Of Buffalo, Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and the UWI,” said Morrison who added that prior to Dr Anderson’s death, the team had applied to the National Institute Of Health here in the United States (US) for a grant to assist in Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS programme at UWI. She expects a decision on the application very soon.

Anderson’s district of Mount Regale in St Mary where he grew up, is also slated to continue receiving attention. Morrison said she would continue to work with the Past Student Association of the primary school which Dr Anderson attended, to find solutions to the economic and social deterioration of the once vibrant rural community.

The building which housed the school and which has been closed for a decade is being eyed for renovation and beneficial use for the district.

According to Morrison, Dr Anderson was “very passionate about doing something to uplift the living standards of residents there”.

Considered an iconic figure within the Jamaican community here, Anderson rose from poverty in his native Jamaica, where he often attended school without shoes, to leave an indelible mark on many of those with whom he came in contact.

He migrated to the United States in 1958 at a time when few Jamaicans were making the trek here. It was also a period when race relations were beginning to heighten.

Two years later he graduated from Alfred State College in upstate New York with an Associate Degree in Medical Technology, washing dishes in the school’s canteen to put himself through college.

He later matriculated at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) from where he graduated with a bachelors in 1969 and a doctorate in 1973.

To achieve his goals while at university, Anderson washed bottles that were required for use in the research lab.

During his long and distinguished career, Anderson received a number of local and international awards.