JACKSON TOWN, Trelawny — Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has blasted political detractors who he accuses of describing health care as a crisis without appreciating how complex the health-care system truly is.

His broadside comes in the wake of an assertion by Opposition spokesman on health Dr Alfred Dawes that the Andrew Holness-led Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government has the worst record on health care compared to any other Administration in the country’s history.

Dawes, a medical doctor and the People’s National Party (PNP) caretaker for St Catherine South Eastern, made the claim last Sunday night during his address at a PNP Youth Organisation (PNP YO) mass rally at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in the St Andrew Southern constituency of Opposition Leader and PNP President Mark Golding.

He accused Tufton of engaging in public relations gimmicks while the health sector is reeling.

However, speaking last Thursday at a ceremony for the reopening of Jackson Town Health Centre following a $23-million renovation exercise, Tufton fired back at Dawes.

“Now, if you are simplistic in your analysis on the quality of health care it is easy to see that there are distractions and to be critical. I’m not saying that we’re not in a free country and people aren’t entitled to identify the weaknesses and highlight those weaknesses, because life is about a work in progress, but we have to be careful also that we don’t get into a situation where we speak about health care, as I have heard some do, as being in a crisis without understanding the complexity of health care,” Tufton warned.

“It’s more disappointing when it comes from those who should know better… because they have worked in it. They have seen it and, indeed, they have had a chance to influence it in the past and they were crying ‘crisis’ or ‘wolf, wolf’ the time when they had a chance to make those changes,” he added.

Tufton argued that no other Administration since Independence has invested as heavily in hospitals, equipment, staffing, and health centres — noting that 138 centres were upgraded at a cost of nearly $4 billion in the past five years. He said he is proud of the many ribbon-cuttings, and criticised those who belittle these achievements, suggesting their attacks are driven by bad mind.

“I hope people reconsider the criticisms about ribbon cutting. Something good has happened. Something good is happening. People are benefiting. Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a benefit to the people,” he said.

The health minister argued that another way to assess Jamaica’s public health system is by looking at how well the Government managed the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the country recorded fewer deaths per capita than most others worldwide. He said this reflects the strength of both health-care workers and the Jamaican people.

“The fact is that if you assess COVID in the most extreme death per capita, how many people died from COVID? Based on the population, Jamaica did better than most countries in the world,” Tufton argued.

“So we have to conclude that we did well as a country, as a people, and indeed, we shouldn’t be shy about it. The Government did well to provide leadership [during] the greatest health threat this country and the world saw in 100 years,” he added.

Tufton suggested that assessing the success of health care must also include looking at partnerships, noting that health is everyone’s business and involves collaboration with bilateral and multilateral partners as well as the private sector.

“There is no other time in the history of this country since Independence when we have had more partnerships in public health than under this Administration, in forging alliances to try to build out a better wellness and society. No other time,” the minister said.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton speaking during a ribbon cutting to declare the newly renovated Jackson Town Health Centre officially open last Thursday. (Photo: Horace Hines)