KINGSTON, Jamaica—The National Health Fund (NHF) is reporting that the most commonly covered conditions affecting both males and females across all age groups in Jamaica in 2025 were hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, vascular diseases, and arthritis.

“Individual benefit claims exceeded 287,000 with a total subsidy value of approximately $4.4 billion,” said an excerpt in the 2025 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, a publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

According to PIOJ, stock levels for Vital Essential Necessary (VEN) list items and medical supplies remained consistently high, with the lowest average monthly levels recorded at 87.0 per cent and 90.0 per cent, respectively.

Online services—including glucometer requests, web chat, and the Quick Prescript app—recorded increased usage, improved access and streamlined prescription management. A total of 704 glucometer requests were fulfilled, 3,440 web chats were handled, and 113,000 prescriptions were successfully processed.

The NHF expanded its coverage from 22 to 24 health conditions to include epilepsy and attention deficit disorder.

Meanwhile, key initiatives for 2025 focused on expanding NHF coverage, increasing subsidies, adding diagnostic tests and improving efficiency at Drug Serv pharmacies.

A total of 50,131 persons were enrolled on the NHF/JADEP programme, with females accounting for 58.0 per cent. Enrolment by age group revealed that older adults in the 60–74 age group recorded the highest enrolment, accounting for 34.5 per cent of participants, followed by mature adults aged 40–59 years, who represented 28.2 per cent, and senior adults aged 75–89, who comprised 14.5 per cent.

Screening activities which supported early detection of health issues, totalled over 56 000.