Jamaica

Pan American Whole Health Alliance - Alianza de Pan American de la Salud Integral

Jamaica

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Basic Information About Jamaica

For a very complete look at general statistics look to the World Factbook http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/jm.html

Health Information (1)

The following information is by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program. As it is a temporary on-line searchable source it is not possible to bookmark or hyperlink to the site. Below is some of the information from the country study.

In the mid-1980s the Ministry of Health employed 5,500 people, but government cutbacks were expected to reduce that number. Although Jamaica housed a regional medical school, the number of doctors was insufficient to meet levels recommended by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). With fewer that 500 doctors, the island had a doctor-to-population ratio of only 1 to 5,240, whereas PAHO recommended a ratio of 1 to 910. As with professionals in general, many Jamaican doctors emigrated to earn higher salaries. The island was even more deficient in the number of dentists, who were not trained locally. Slightly more than 100 dentists were registered on the island, but many unlicensed dentists also practiced. The licensed dentist-to-population ratio was 1 to 20,000, far from the 1 to 2,857 ratio PAHO recommended. Dental assistants were trained locally through a dental auxiliary school at CAST. In 1985 Jamaica's nurse-to-population ratio of some 1 to 1,172 was also below the recommended PAHO level of 1 to 769, as was the 1 to 274 ratio of assistant nurses, compared with the recommended 1 to 385.

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Health Information (2)

For detailed health data please go the the PAHO website : http://www.paho.org/English/SHA/prfljam.htm

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