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309 girls in four schools receive HPV vaccine

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#Jamaica, October 5, 2017 – Kingston – Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has informed that 309 girls in four schools across Kingston and St. Andrew, and Portland have received the humanpapilloma virus (HPV) vaccine since the programme started.   The four schools are Oberlin and Papine High in Kingston and St. Andrew, and Titchfield and Happy Grove in Portland.

Speaking at today’s (October 4) post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr. Tufton said 21 girls opted out of the process.

“So, you are looking at well above the 80 percentile, close to 90 per cent participation rate, which is in keeping with the averages that we expect.   So, those are the latest figures that I have; and, again, those institutions, based on the targets that were set and what was actually done, were obviously prepared for the administration of the process,” he said.

The programme, which started on Monday (October 2), will be administered to girls in grade seven, between ages nine and 14 years, free of cost. The vaccine is not mandatory.   The target is approximately 22,500 girls, and each girl will need two doses given six months apart for full protection.   The initiative falls under a $100-million programme and is being carried out by the administration as a move to protect girls against cervical cancer, which takes the lives of hundreds of women in the country per year and hundreds of thousands more worldwide.

In the meantime, Dr. Tufton said his Ministry will be collaborating with the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to ensure that all stakeholders, including school administrators and parents, have adequate information about the programme.

“Where we discern, either because of an expression of concern by a school administrator, principal or parents… that the communication needs to be beefed up (and that) they need greater clarity, then in those instances related to those institutions, we would have… to delay the process.   In fact, we have pushed back some of the proposed dates for some institutions,” he noted.

He said the delay may result from the unavailability of medical practitioner(s) or inability of the school to facilitate the health authorities on the proposed dates for the administration.   Clarifying media reports regarding the status of the initiative, Dr. Tufton said the Government will continue with the roll-out.

Meanwhile, Acting Director, Family Health Services, Ministry of Health, Dr. Melody Ennis, said countries that have introduced the vaccine more than 10 years have been recording successes.

“The numbers of precancerous lesions have decreased by some 20 to 30 per cent in some of those countries.   So, there is some amount of success with the administration of this vaccine, and the data continues to come in,” she said.

In excess of 200 million doses of the vaccine have been applied to patients worldwide.   More than 70 countries, including over 20 in Latin America and the Caribbean, have already introduced the HPV vaccine.   The Ministry of Health will be ramping up the public education campaign on its initiative to prevent cervical cancer through the introduction of the HPV vaccine programme.

Members of the public can call the Ministry’s toll-free line 1-888-ONE LOVE or 1-888-663-5683 to clarify concerns, or email the Ministry at hpvinfo@moh.gov.jm. Additional information is available at www.moh.gov.jm.

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in Jamaica, and remains a significant public health concern.   Current estimates indicate that every year, 392 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer; 185 die from the disease, with the majority of deaths occurring in women between 40 and 64 years of age.

Release: JIS

 

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CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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