ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton on Thursday signed contracts valued at a combined cost of $37 million for renovation and expansion works to the Malvern and New Market health centres in St Elizabeth.

The contracts were signed with Maxwell Construction Limited for the refurbishing of the New Market facility at a cost of approximately $5 million and Costley’s Construction for the renovation of the Malvern health facility at a cost of $32 million.

Speaking at the signing ceremony held on the grounds of the Malvern Health Centre, Dr Tufton noted that 10,000 residents will benefit from the upgraded health facilities.

“It [the upgrade] is important, because it really is what the people in the communities depend on to get the basic care and basic outreach in supporting prevention methods. We have long felt that we need to invest more in community-based interventions for public health. And this is what this expenditure is doing, and the same for New Market [Health Centre],” he said.

Dr Tufton pointed out that the government is heavily focused on strengthening primary health care to ease the burden on the hospitals.

“Certainly, since I became Minister, I have tried to change the narrative, but over time [primary healthcare] has lost some credibility, which means that when people get sick, the first place they look to is where the hospital is. We have discouraged that; we have said that health really begins in the community,” he noted.

He said the ongoing investment in primary healthcare facilities is also necessary to undertake preventive work to curtail the prevalence of non-communicable diseases that are responsible for 80 per cent of deaths in Jamaica.

Dr Tufton pointed out that this forms part of a 10-year strategic plan to enhance the health sector, which is being fast-tracked.

“We have a 10-year strategic plan that we have started, that is going to revamp primary healthcare [at] over 300 health centres. The model is simple; we must have a health centre within 10 miles of every citizen. We are building out some additional health centres, and we are renovating and upgrading those that are in strategically approved locations, like this one right here in Malvern,” he said.

“In addition to that, we are reviewing and revamping the services because when you look at the health profile of the population now, as opposed to 10 years ago, that profile is changing. In other words, we’re seeing more cases of premature illnesses, meaning people getting sick early, including children in the schools, and that is a direct function of lifestyle,” he added.

Dr Tufton further explained that part of the reform will see an increase in the cadre of doctors serving in the primary healthcare system.

“That 10-year plan was tabled in the Parliament when I spoke in the Sectoral Debate earlier this year, and now we are going into a process of consultation to get Jamaicans to understand why it is important,” he said.