KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Ministry of Health is to spend some $1.32 billion under the Health Services Improvement Project to support enhanced service delivery in the public health system.

This is contained in the 2016/17 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on April 14, by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw.

The targets for the fiscal year under the project include: procurement of a Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), the preparation of designs for the construction of four polyclinics, as well as vector control support.

The rehabilitation of health care facilities and the acquisition of a Linear Accelerator to be used in cancer treatment are also included in the targets. The project is being funded by the National Health Fund (NHF).

Some $24 million has also been allocated, through the Consolidated Fund, to upgrade the water supply system at the Bellevue Hospital. The objective of this project is to reduce water loss and improve consumption efficiency by re-piping the supply at the institution.

Additionally, some $4.3 million is to be spent on a public education and prevention programme called ‘Project Inner-City’.

The objective of this project is to establish the necessary infrastructure within rural and urban communities, to develop self-sustained, integrated, demand-reduction programmes in an effort to effectively reduce the demand for drugs.