Caribbean News
Jamaica wants to enhance Cancer registration, launches new system
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#Jamaica, November 10, 2023 – Cancer registration and data systems will be enhanced and fortified in Jamaica with a newly launched, second in the world project, the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) project, by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
The launch, on October 24th, came as part of an effort to strengthen the systems responsible for cancer registration in low resources countries from Rwanda to Jamaica.
Why the DHIS2 launch is crucial, was pointed out by Dr. Simone Spence, Director, Health Promotion and
She said, “cancer registration is critical to informing health promotion efforts,” adding that the ministry of health and wellness looks forward to the results that will come from DHIS2.
Spence further expounded on the role of the cancer registration systems. The Director informed that the systems are essential components “of a comprehensive cancer prevention and control program,” as it collects “comprehensive data on the incidence, prevalence and trends of cancer in a population.”
Additionally, she said the data is used to aid in the identification of, by health promotion professionals, high risk groups, geographic areas with elevated cancer rates and specific cancer types that are currently on the rise.
With this information, that the DHIS2 will now enhance, resources will be better deployed and priorities can be better thought through and set, in accordance with the upgraded registration systems.
MoHW, Spence says, will be able to pinpoint the causes and potential risk factors associated with specific cancers.
Not only that, with DHIS2, the ministry will have the means to track the effectiveness of health promotion activists, Spence mentioned, and see that resources are properly and precisely allocated.
Above all, she added, the ministry’s efforts can be aimed at improving early detection across the island.