Between December 2019 and February 2020, The Gleaner published a series of articles on my behalf, exploring the issue of food security in Jamaica based on an analysis of the country’s food-import bill for 2018. The current COVID-19 pandemic, which...

Chupski dons her mask once she ventures out in public. To the bank, the supermarket, the ­pharmacy, the ATM. So far I have never even tried on the one I have. Maybe I should have worn it last Thursday mid-­morning as I stood at the entrance to the...

“The United States has launched a stunning attack on Cuba’s medical-aid missions, with the Trump administration pressing countries to reject them during the coronavirus pandemic,” Steve Sweeny reported in the Morning Star, March 26, 2020. Given...

Public reaction to the initial threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was predictably mixed. While international news of the contagion across continents helped people to appreciate that this was not restricted to a particular region, not many people...

The lessons of COVID-19 are yet to crystallise, but the evidence so far has yielded some early insights of developments that are likely to shape the national and global agenda for the immediate future. The speed and scale of the spread of the...

The global COVID-19 spread has gone from bad to worse, with over 3.2 million confirmed cases and close to 250,000 deaths, not only has this pandemic claimed innumerable lives, it has also destabilised economies by freezing trade and other economic...

The national priority at this time must be the protection of the Jamaican people against the onset of COVID-19. This has to be done by striking the balance between implementing protective public-health measures and providing a supporting economic...

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director, Dr Carissa Etienne, is warning that lifting COVID-19 restrictions too soon could accelerate the spread of the virus and open the door for a dramatic upsurge in countries of the region. The warning...

Dozens of United States children have been hospitalised with a serious inflammatory condition possibly linked with the coronavirus and first seen in Europe. New York authorities announced Wednesday that 64 potential cases had been reported to...

Can COVID-19 survive on my phone? Yes. That’s why a daily wipe down of “high-touch” surfaces like phones, keyboards and tablet computers is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A scientific test...

COVID-19-ravaged regional economies, including Jamaica, will need the united strength of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) to help revive their micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sectors, many of which have been decimated. That...

FORMER NATIONAL footballer Aldrick ‘Allie’ McNab is concerned about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean’s football development. The coronavirus has caused the postponement, suspension, and cancellation of a number of sporting...

MADRID, Spain (AP): Rafael Nadal says Novak Djokovic will need to be vaccinated to keep playing if the governing bodies of tennis make coronavirus shots obligatory once they become available. Nadal told the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia this...

Participants in our discussion on person centred care in January agreed that a change in culture and better use of technology could benefit both patients and doctors. At the roundtable: Fiona Godlee (chair), editor in chief, The BMJ Tessa Richards, senior editor, patient partnership, The BMJ Rosamund Snow, patient editor, The BMJ Navjoyt Ladher,...

Brits have a reputation as Europe’s boozers - and for good reason, with alcohol consumption higher than much of the rest of the continent. That reputation is extended to our young people too - but is it still deserved? Joanna Inchley, senior research fellow at the University of St Andrews, explains new research on decreasing drinking -...

More doctors are choosing to retire early, doctors who take career breaks find it hard to return to practice, and doctors at all stages of their careers are frustrated by the lack of support given to training and development in today’s NHS. Each year the BMJ holds a roundtable discussion at the Nuffield Summit - where health leaders come...

At EBM live recently, we ran a workshop with researchers, patients and clinicians to talk about patient rights in research - should patients be setting the full research agenda? Should they be full participants and authors? Helen Macdonald, BMJ’s UK research editor and co-host of our talk evidence podcast sat down to Paul Wicks, researcher and...

We're taking a break from the usual Talk Evidence to focus on the new corona virus that has emerged in China. With a brand new disease, we have to build our evidence base from scratch - basic virology, epidemiology, pathogenicity, transmissibility, and ultimately treatment are all unknowns. In this episode of Talk Evidence, we're trying to get...

Reports from Italy, and more recently from the U.S. show the strain the healthcare system is under during this pandemic. We know that staff will step up in an emergency, but this isn’t a fire or a bombing, this is going to last for months. So how can organisations be proactive in supporting staff, and how can leaders try to mitigate the...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give...

We knew a pandemic was coming at some point - it’s kind of why we have the WHO. We have had various smaller scale tests of the international response to an infectious disease outbreak - Ebola in west africa being the most recent. After that, reports criticised the WHO's response - citing problems around the swiftness of their action, the lack of...

Continuing our series on wellbeing during the pandemic, in this podcast we speak to Occupational Psychologist Roxane Gervais about how doctors can look after themselves during the covid-19 pandemic. We discuss the importance of reaching out to friends and family during this difficult time, how to deal with the loss of control, as well how to...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give...

As part of our response to the covid-19 pandemic, we’re going to be running a series of discussions with experts about some of the big issues arising from the virus. In this one, we’re asking about the public health response to an outbreak - what’s necessary, and is it possible to go to far. Joining us are Martin Mckee - professor of european...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give...

As the pandemic plays out - the way in which doctors in the UK practice is changing, hospitals are reconfigured to increase critical care capacity, GPs are working from home and doing their day to day work remotely. Some of the changes have come at the detriment of staff and patient wellbeing but covid-19 has also helped cut through some of the...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give you...

As the pandemic plays out - hospitals are reconfigured to increase critical care capacity, outpatient clinics become virtual, and elective procedures delayed. How are these affecting care for those who are in hospital but don't have covid-19? In this podcast, Matt Morgan,honorary senior research fellow at Cardiff University, consultant in...

In this week’s episode, we discuss bystander guilt, convergence, brain hacks and “how you can sneeze on someone’s brain from anywhere in the world”. How can GPs cope with the myriad worries around treating patients during the current pandemic, both on the frontline and in general practice? How do we recognise and break unhelpful anxious behaviour...

We are more than six weeks into the lockdown and if you were to gauge the mood of the nation, it would be one of fatigue. It started as an all-hands-on-deck emergency situation, but it now transpires that the current work situation for healthcare professionals is not going to change any time soon. This is a marathon rather than a sprint. So how...

For the next few months Talk Evidence is going to focus on the new corona virus pandemic. There is an enormous amount of uncertainty about the disease, what the symptoms are, fatality rate, treatment options, things we shouldn't be doing. We're going to try to get away from the headlines and talk about what we need to know - to hopefully give you...

Shane Rea
Nov 1, 1997; 46:1667-1677
Perspectives in Diabetes

Western Bureau: Some displaced Iberostar employees in Rose Hall, St James, are angry with their employer, charging that they have been unable to benefit from the Government’s COVID-19 relief programme because of the hotel’s failure to pay over...

Edmond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter Conceding that healthcare workers in the public sector are burnt out as they combat COVID-19, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Government is taking steps to boost its...

Days after The Gleaner reported a clarion call from Port Maria Mayor Richard Creary for the quarantine of St Mary communities owing to growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in the parish, the Government responded with the lockdown of three...

It was a double whammy of inconvenience for Sharon Carter, a vendor in Metcalfe Market, Annotto Bay. Carter, who lives in St Catherine, had just recently been relieved of the lockdown in the parish and is now being affected by the quarantine which...

Vendors and store operators who would normally score big on Mother’s Day baskets are lamenting that the novel coronavirus has put a dent in their sales. Kaydyonne Thomas, owner of a gift store in the Pavilion Mall, located in Half Way Tree, said...

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr Carissa F. Etienne, today called for accelerated and expanded testing for COVID-19 in countries of the Americas. “We need a clearer view of where the virus is circulating and how...

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Government of Haiti has received funds amounting to US$16.1 million from the United States to help the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds from the United States Agency for International...

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, today urged for vaccination programmes to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. “If we fall behind on routine immunisations, particularly for children, we risk...

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that a 20-year-old man has become the seventh person in Haiti to die of the coronavirus (COVID-19). It is urging the population to follow restriction measures, including...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government Saturday said it had uncovered a plot by persons to defraud the state and that a new mechanism would be put in place Monday in providing rental assistance to people impacted by...

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC –  Bermuda recorded its seventh COVID-19 death on Saturday as Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson announced that he would need to rewrite this year’s budget because of the battering from the global...

As of May 6, officials in Nevis are reporting that there are no active cases of the deadly COVID-19 virus on the island. This was confirmed Tuesday by Premier Mark Brantley, Minister responsible for Health, in the Nevis Island Administration....

THE EDITOR, Madam: How many more will have to suffer? How many more will have to die to end the discrimination often meted out to persons suspected of or confirmed with COVID-19? The novel coronavirus is highly contagious, seems so mysterious, and...

THE EDITOR, Madam: THE JAMAICAN economy has been underperforming for the last 40 years, during which economic growth averaged approximately one per cent per annum. One of the main reasons for this poor performance is the non-competitive nature of...

As the global battle against the deadly COVID-19 disease wages on, with each country’s government, healthcare industry, and general public playing its part in defeating this new and relatively unknown enemy, two seemingly unlikely foot soldiers...