Health ministry gets boost
Published:Friday | March 28, 2008 | 10:53 AM
The Health Ministry is today expected to outline details of its plan to abolish user fees at all public health facilities.
As of April 1, Jamaicans will no longer be required to pay for certain services at these facilities.
Health Minister, Rudyard Spencer is expected to address the issue at a press conference this morning.
The allocation to the regional health authorities and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has been increased for this financial year.
Yesterday, it was revealed that the government plans to spend $25.4 billion on health in the upcoming fiscal year. This is $22.7 billion more than the amount for the last 2007/2008 budget.
Of this amount, the four regional authorities and the UHWI are together expected to receive over $21.6 million compared to the $15.7 million that was originally budgeted last year.
Most of the sum is allocated to the southeast regional health authority, which gets over $8.4 million, followed by the western regional health authority, which gets more than $4 million.
The university hospital will receive $2.6 million of this year’s health budget.