JTA’s Critical Illness Trust Fund ready for roll-out
Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2022 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/ Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THREE YEARS after it was officially launched, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA) Critical Illness Trust Fund is now operational and will soon start delivering benefits to teachers suffering from lifestyle diseases and other medical challenges.
According to Dr Garth Anderson, a trustee of the JTA, who last Wednesday provided an update to the delegates at the association’s 58th annual conference in Montego Bay, St James, measures are in place for the nation’s 23,000 public-school teachers, who fall under the JTA’s 78 district association, to start benefiting from the trust fund.
Anderson said the fund, which was launched in 2019, is now registered and is being managed by a board of trustees comprising the CHASE Fund’s Billy Heaven, Doran Dixon, Ray Howell, Ena Barclay, Kadian Scott, and Dr Mark Nicely, the JTA’s secretary general.
Seed funding for the trust, which now stands at $20 million, came from teachers representing the various parish associations, the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Sagicor Group, Jamaica Publishing House, TIP Friendly Society, Jamaica National Life Insurance, and the JTA.
“We now have a registered entity with a bank account, and we are about to invest whatever amount of money we have. We will hear more about it in the full report,” Anderson told the delegates at the time.
PRIMARY FOCUS
The JTA’s Critical Illness Trust Fund was primarily established to assist teachers afflicted by lifestyle diseases to help fund health-related expenses.
“We have now registered the trust and we hope in short order we will start assisting members of the JTA who are so in need,” Anderson said. “We recognise that far too many teachers are struggling to meet their basic healthcare needs.”
“When I was president of the JTA, I encountered a number of our colleagues retired and in service who were literally dying from these various diseases, but cannot take care of their medical expenses,” he added.
Anderson’s announcement has been deemed a positive move by several teachers in western Jamaica, including LaToya Williams, outgoing president of the Anchovy District Association, who lauded the initiative as a well-needed gesture at this time.
“We welcome this initiative because what we currently have on our health cards is not adequate based on inflation and rising cost of living,” she said. “Anything that is being done towards lifting the morale of teachers at this time is good.”
Natalie Besley-Wedderburn, an assistant grade 11 coordinator at Hopewell High School, said while she is unclear about the details of the benefits of the trust fund, she sees it as a step in the right direction.
“This is a welcomed initiative that should help to alleviate the cost of medical care for persons diagnosed with such deliberating lifestyle diseases,” said Besley-Wedderburn. “I hope the fund can be increased in the years to come as treating lifestyle diseases can be quite expensive.”