KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, says the public health system has 118 working ventilators.

The minister, who addressed a virtual press conference on Thursday, said an audit was done to trace all ventilators in the system, and it shows that the ministry owns 210 of the machines, 40 of them are going through maintenance, and the others are “obsolete; they can’t be used”.

“We have ventilators; they are all accounted for; they are in the public health system and are being utilised to save lives on a daily basis,” Tufton said, while noting that the audit has “provided specific data” on the machines.

Crucial to the finding is that “no ventilator is missing”, and some of those going through maintenance will be returned to service, and “there should be no speculation, or insinuation that ventilators are not being utilised,” Minister Tufton said.

The minister pointed out that the audit will be placed on the ministry’s website, and the list will include the location of the assets, the unique identifiable serial number of each piece of equipment, as well as the mechanism through which the items were acquired, which is either through the support of donors or via the Consolidated Fund.

Ventilators are sensitive pieces of equipment that help a patient breathe when they are sick, injured, or sedated for an operation. It pumps oxygen-rich air into the lungs and helps the patient breathe out carbon dioxide. Given this sensitivity, these machines must be maintained constantly to ensure that they can provide effective life-saving support and do not cause infection.

Dr Tufton said that the ministry is committed to the transformation of the public health system, fuelled by the commitment to safeguarding the best possible health outcomes for all patients, young and old, and inspired by its core values of respect, integrity, equity, collaboration, and responsiveness.

-JIS