Dawes calls for restructuring of health sector spending to improve outcomes

Opposition Spokesperson on Health and Wellness Dr Alfred Dawes is calling for the Government to restructure its health expenditure in key areas to improve the public health system.

He was speaking against the background of a World Bank review of Jamaica’s healthcare system, which covered the period from 2016 to 2022.

Citing the review, Dawes noted that Jamaica has more than tripled its public health budget over the past decade, but maternal and neonatal deaths remain troublingly high.

Dawes said the review found that maternal mortality was higher than it was 30 years ago, while neonatal mortality had increased compared with the period when the current administration took office.

The opposition spokesman pointed to the significant increase in health spending, from $60.15 billion in the 2016/17 financial year to more than $200 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health and Wellness for the current financial year.

Despite the increased allocation, he said, the review identified several persistent weaknesses in the public health system, including inadequate staffing at health centres, rising medicine costs and patients arriving at hospitals with advanced illnesses.

“This is a priority problem, not a money problem,” Dawes asserted.

Against this background, he is calling for a restructuring of health expenditure around four priority areas, including strengthening primary healthcare by ensuring that health centres are properly staffed, supplied and kept open.

He also wants greater investment in training, retaining and deploying doctors, nurses and technicians, as well as in the procurement and maintenance of equipment at public hospitals.

Dawes further called for the enforcement of service-level agreements with regional health authorities, supported by the quarterly publication of performance data.

The proposed data should include waiting times, equipment downtime, staff vacancies and the availability of medication, he said.

“Jamaicans have paid for a better health system. The World Bank review shows they have not received it,” Dawes charged.

“Start with the mother in the labour ward and the patient on the waiting list.”

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