The government, through the National Health Fund (NHF), has spent close to $1 billion over the last year to help Jamaicans battling hypertension.With more than 281,000 Jamaicans seeking help from the NHF this year to defeat the disease dubbed the '...
Jamaica-born forensic social worker Carmeta Albarus is pleading for more in-depth pre-migration counselling for those seeking greener pastures as she is increasingly coming across Jamaicans in the American penal system, who turned to a life of crime...
Scores of Jamaicans diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension) are not taking the prescribed medication despite the availability of Government subsidies for the well-needed drugs.According to St...
Efforts by a Canadian woman to adopt a Jamaican child have left her emotionally and financially drained after the Child Development Agency (CDA) denied her application twice.Francine Belliveau said she first began the process to adopt a Jamaican...
With more than 200 persons waiting to adopt Jamaican children, chairperson of the Adoption Board Patricia Sutherland has declared that foreigners seeking to adopt locally will be placed at the back of the line."Foreigners adopting Jamaican children...
After losing more than $12 million worth of fish to the drought now gripping the island, the proprietor of the Little's Hobby Hut Fish Farm, Thomas Guyah, is considering his options as he mulls the future of a once-thriving business on his 20-acre...
For residents of Hartlands in central St Catherine, the recent closure of the small primary school in the community has left them heartbroken and disappointed.The school, which operated out of one large room, was more than an educational institution...
There was a time when teachers at the Tower Hill Primary School in East Rural St Andrew had to use every square inch of the compound for teaching.But now the school sits empty, one of 18 closed by the Ministry of Education because they did not have...
It has been more than five years since a surgical needle was left in six-year-old Chardonnay Taylor's chest during operations at two public hospitals, and it appears that it could be some time yet before anything is done to correct this as the...
It will soon become mandatory for persons to be certified if they want to work in the private security industry.As part of efforts to change the image of security guards from 'guardie' to professionals, the Private Security Regulation Authority ...
Efforts by at least two of the country's leading Christian denominations to provide low cost housing to thousands of needy Jamaicans have stalled because developers are reluctant to invest in low-income houses or build on lands in rural areas....
Jamaica's high crime rate has fuelled an estimated 50 per cent increase in the number of security firms operating locally over the last few years, but the spike in criminal activities is not good news to the operators of these entities."It's a two-...
Packed with chalkboards, educational charts, desk and chairs, the truck parked at the entrance of the Preston Hill Primary School in St Mary signalled the end of an era for Dorrette Sommerville and her neighbours, who watched helplessly from a far....
A recent survey by the British Council has found that the tendency of Jamaican boys to view reading and language proficiency as a mark of effeminacy has contributed to the decline in students' performance in English over the last few years.The...
A number of parents and students who vehemently protested the announced merger of the Charlie Smith and Trench Town high schools in the South St Andrew community of Arnett Gardens - popularly known as 'Jungle' - now seem ready to embrace the move as...
An accident while travelling on a Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) bus has confined pensioner Linnette Martin to a life of pain for the past five years, but even more distressing is the fact that the state-owned bus company has reneged on an...
Recent reports of girls resorting to violence to solve interpersonal conflict in schools are causing concern for at least one social-work expert who is convinced that the number of cases is much more than reported."The schools try to gloss them over...
Thousands of Jamaicans are swimming in public pools, at schools, clubs and even the National Stadium, which have not been approved by the Ministry of Health.The lack of certification means that swimmers could be exposed to many types of bacteria...
When doctors from two local hospitals performed heart surgery on five-month-old Chardonnay Taylor in 2009, someone left the suture needle behind and failed to properly close the opening in her chest.Today, Chardonnay is six years old and, despite...
With the summer months always seeing an increase in demand for paternity testing, one regional DNA testing facility is contemplating stocking local pharmacy shelves with paternity kits for the benefit of suspicious parents with something to prove....
Beachgoers hoping to escape the heat this summer are being cautioned to swim at their own risk as several popular swimming spots across the island have not been licensed, and of those that are licensed, several are operating in contravention of the...
He stole her innocence, caused her to leave her community and destroyed her trust in people, but when it was time for her church brother and neighbour to be prosecuted for raping her, Pamela* did the unexpected. She begged the judge to let him go...
As the debate rages over whether victims should forgive those who have wronged them, at least one local clergyman has charged that those quick to forgive are showing moral weakness, even as others argue that forgiveness is necessary for persons to...
They are generally rated among the best in the world and many go the extra mile to save lives without thought of class, colour or status, but when members of the medical fraternity get it wrong, it can be horrible for patients as well as the nation'...
