COVID-19 patients at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) are being provided with turmeric tea in a bid to boost their immune system.

The Jamaica Observer first reported on the weekend that the hospital was providing turmeric tea to its COVID-19 patients.

Shavuot International Holdings Limited, through distributor Derrimon Trading Company Limited, has been supplying the hospital with 10 cases of tea per week since about mid-March.

The arrangement, which is for three months, was formalised during a virtual ceremony at KPH’s downtown Kingston compound on Tuesday.

Senior medical officer at KPH Dr Natalie Whylie, in expressing gratitude, said that the donation of the tea will support the care that is being offered to patients at the facility.

She said studies show that turmeric and its active compound are known to benefit patients by helping to strengthen the immune system and enhancing the antibody response.

“Patients at the KPH are offered a hot beverage with meals and, as such, it was decided to offer turmeric tea to the patients who were being treated for COVID-19, once their medical conditions allow for this. What we want to do is to enhance and improve the treatment that these patients are undergoing,” she noted.

Dr Whylie said that the effects of the turmeric tea on patients is being monitored, and “I am proud to say that the results have been promising”.

Marketing director, Shavuot International, Joel Harris, said that the partnership aims to help patients through the use of an authentic Jamaican product.

“We are so happy to be able to know that a little Jamaican product, grown on Jamaican soil, freshly produced and packaged, can be served in a teacup [to help] those who are suffering,” he said.

Commercial manager, Derrimon Trading Co Limited, Stewart Jacobs, said he was pleased about the partnership with KPH to help patients with COVID-19.

He said that life expectancy is, to a large extent, “dependent on how healthy people eat and how they are cared for. Shavuot tea helps in preventing certain illnesses and KPH exists to make health better – a partnership that is unmatched”.

Shavuot International Holdings Limited is a group of companies that offer all-natural premium brands aimed at providing holistic health and beauty benefits.

The company supplies a range of teas, including turmeric, peppermint, moringa, soursop-moringa, soursop leaf, cinnamon, ginger, lemon grass and cerasee/bitter melon.