Over $6 billion was spent in the national response which included:
• $775 million to health facilities to help in supporting the associated needs;
• Infrastructure upgrades at a cost of more than $89 million;
• The provision of medical equipment, such as personal protective
equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 test kits at a cost of more than $1.7 billion;
• Procurement of prescription drugs, valued over $500 million, through the
National Health Fund for COVID-19 treatment.
COVID-19 Recovery Plan
This plan targets the attainment of an adequate legal framework to implement responses to COVID-19. It also targets:
• Multisectoral and multidisciplinary approaches through the strengthening of national partnerships;
• An increase in skilled and competent personnel for public health surveillance;
• The strengthening of 87 laboratories;
• Strengthened surveillance systems to detect significant developments relating to public health and health security.
Specific actions under the plan, many of which are now underway, include:
• A review of existing legislation to align them with the international health
regulations requirements, and drafting of policies that support infection
prevention and control measures at home, in communities and at the workplace;
• The strategic and human resource review of the Health Emergency
Operations Centre;
• The creation of some 2,208 posts for community health aides;
• Accelerated programme for contact tracing;
• The creation of 500 posts for public health inspectors; and
• The review of the organisational structure for medical officers of health in each parish.
PROMAC
• All four high-dependency units (HDUs) under the Programme for the
Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC) were
constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion.
• Jamaica now has 48 high-dependency spaces, 38 new high-dependency beds and 10 new isolation suites, specifically for pregnant women and their newborns.
These are in addition to:
• Six ambulances, radio-graphic, ultrasound equipment and some
150 midwifery bags, which were procured at a cost of of $187.6 millions, to enhance the quality of primary care and improve the referral system.
• The training of more than 230 doctors and nurses in specialised programmes, including paediatric medicine, obstetrics, gynaecology, and anaesthesia and intensive care; and
• Fellowships in neo-natology, maternal foetal medicine and emergency obstetrics.
