MOUNT SALEM, St James — Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton says the ministry is seeking to make it easier for charities and benevolent organisations to make donations to the public health sector.

Last year, just under 200 charities contributed items valued at some $3.5 billion to the sector.

“Only this (last) Monday, the Cabinet approved a submission that I brought on charities to establish a protocol that we will eventually promote and where necessary amend appropriate legislation to support giving to the public health system whether from local entities or international entities,” disclosed Dr Tufton.

“I want to make it a lot easier for people to give, wherever that giving is coming from, as long as it is legitimate and it is for the cause that it is being intended, which is the national cause and the people’s interest. I want to be the man with the team to support and embrace that,” he said further.

In tandem with that, Tufton said efforts are being made to strengthen the Charities Unit within the Ministry of Health.

“We are also going to be beefing up the unit in the ministry that deals with charities, adding additional capacity, personnel and otherwise. We are going to also be helping those charities and those who give, to give where it is needed most,” he added.

Dr Tufton continued: “And to do that, we are going to ensure that at all times we have a current needs assessment of the public health system, primary or otherwise, so that if someone wants to give: they can go on the website, they can contact the overseas mission and see where are the areas that we need support the most and how we can redirect our resource to assist.”

He was addressing a Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run beneficiary presentation where $16-million worth of equipment and supplies were presented to the Special Care Nursery and Paediatric Unit of Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.

President and CEO of Sagicor Investments Rohan Miller said the company has raised some $200 million from charitable events since the company started 19 years ago. Last year’s run brought in some $26 million, of which Cornwall received $16 million.

“We will be donating ventilators, incubators, lamps, monitors, bassinets and we don’t think that there is anything too large or too small. Suction machines and a very important new AC [air conditioning] unit in keeping with international guidelines for children and babies in special care and that is a very special unit to ensure that the air that those newborns require is of the quality that they require,” Miller remarked.

Chief consultant paediatrician Dr Carlene Grant Davis disclosed that Cornwall Regional Hospital admits approximately 1,000 babies per year. She said the gift will go a far way in reducing prenatal mortality rate.

“We are fortunate here to have a set of doctors, in Cornwall Regional on a whole, and in the paediatric department who are motivated, who are hard-working and we are always going above and beyond the call of what we have to do,” Dr Grant Davis said.

She continued: “If we have no equipment or resources, we are working. If we have the equipment and resources, we are working. So, it is what we do and we take pride in what we do and it gives us a lot of pleasure when we can have the resources to work with to fulfil our commitment.”

CEO of Cornwall Regional Hospital Anthony Smikle and Chairman of the Western Regional Health Authority Tony Hart also expressed gratitude for the donation.