EU provides grant to strengthen health system

KINGSTON, (JIS):

The European Union (EU) has approved a grant of €10 million to finance a project, titled, ‘Health System Strengthening Programme’, which is expected to bolster Jamaica’s health sector.

This disclosure was made by Head of the EU Delegation to Jamaica, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, at the recent opening of a Maternal and Neonatal High-Dependency Unit (HDU) at the St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital in St. Ann. She explained that the EU will co-finance an ongoing Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan with the grant, which will focus on the rehabilitation of 10 health centres across the island.

The programme is expected to tackle the surge of non-communicable diseases in the country, such as diabetes and hypertension.

The EU Delegation Head indicated her organisation’s commitment to providing continuing support to the health sector in Jamaica. “The European Union recognises the importance of a strong national health system as one of the most important public goods of a nation and is continuing to support Jamaica and the Caribbean to achieve this end,” she said. She informed that the EU, in partnership with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), has also mobilised a total amount of €8 million to cater for the most urgent needs of Caribbean countries in managing the fight against COVID-19.