A huge downside of battling the novel coronavirus has been reduced attention to other illnesses. Hospitals, for example, had no choice but to put elective surgeries on hold and to discourage outpatient visits during the heights of the pandemic.

Inevitably also, public attention to other diseases, such as the various cancers and other non-communicable ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, and kidney failure waned.

Thankfully, even as Jamaica has withdrawn the Disaster Risk Management Act which mandated COVID-19 restrictions — while retaining some safety measures under the Public Health Act — cases have fallen significantly, hopefully permanently. Hence, the health sector is increasingly returning to pre-COVID-19 concerns.

In the latter respect, we applaud Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton’s call for greater attention to prostate cancer — a significant cause of death among men in the local population.

There is always value for the greater good in repeating useful facts, which is what Dr Tufton was about when he told us that: “If you don’t treat it [prostate cancer]… it will eventually create a problem that can lead to death. It could eventually lead… to surgery …”

This led the minister to another fact — that Jamaican men often delay going to the doctor even after clear signs that something is medically wrong.

As Dr Tufton said, much of the reluctance to see a doctor can be traced to a pervasive macho culture, with some men feeling that to seek medical help is an admission of weakness.

Yet, as we all know, prevention is always better than cure. Early detection of medical problems can lead to an avoidance of trauma, grief, and crippling expense. For all those reasons and more, life partners, friends, associates, acquaintances should always be prepared to encourage regular doctor visits. It can make a world of difference.

We note also the thoughtful call from Opposition spokesman on health Dr Morais Guy for more dialysis units across Jamaica to deal with kidney disease — a leading cause of death across the country, regardless of gender.

The evidence suggests that many kidney patients die because they lack money to meet the horrendously high costs of private dialysis treatment — as much as $45,000 per week — and the waiting list at the pitifully few public institutions which cater for dialysis is too long.

Dr Guy tells us that “The wait by persons requiring dialysis at [Kingston Public Hospital] is about four years, and many have died during that period waiting for acceptance…”

We know such ventures are never easy, but we endorse Dr Guy’s proposal for public/private partnerships to increase access to treatment for kidney patients and for built-in investment incentives such as tax breaks.

Such are the high costs involved that a dialysis unit in every parish may not be possible in the near term. But, says Dr Guy, “St Mary may not need the same facilities as St Ann, but one centre in St Ann could serve both parishes. I know that transportation would be an issue, but we could use the public ambulances to get patients to and from their local hospital to the nearest dialysis centre.”

Let’s join hands and brains to manage basic life and death issues.