Cabinet approves National Health Fund

CABINET has approved the establishment of a National Health Fund to provide drugs and education for sufferers of chronic diseases.

According to a release from JIS News, Minister of Health, John Junor, whose Ministry proposed the fund, said he hoped to have it implemented by January 2002.

Mr. Junor, who was speaking at the weekly JIS "Think Tank" session last week, said the idea for the fund arose when the Green Paper on the National Health Insurance was tabled in the House, and both the medical community and the Ministry of Finance expressed concerns about the sustainability of the project, given that it would rely largely on Pay as You Earn (PAYE) persons.

The National Insurance plan proposed that all Jamaicans be covered, but only a portion of Jamaicans, the PAYE taxpayers, would be paying for the scheme. It was the conclusion of the authorities and concerned parties that this would not be feasible.

Mr. Junor said the hope was that the National Health Fund would be a launching pad for a more feasible plan.

The Minister explained that when considering the diseases to be covered by the fund, the decision was taken to focus on chronic diseases. He said a levy of $1 on each unit of cigarette and liquor would finance the fund.

"From this we will raise $2 billion," Mr. Junor said.

The Minister explained that the programme would provide medication to all certified chronic disease sufferers. Once a chronic disease sufferer is certified, he or she would be entitled to medication from a list of drugs for the particular disease only.

"This will eliminate the possibility of persons trying to take advantage of the system," said the Minister.

The drugs to be made available would be largely generic. Certified participants would pay a minimal fee, representing the cost which a pharmacy attached for processing.

"This is where the competition will come in and owners and operators of pharmacies can benefit," Mr. Junor said.

An important factor of the Health Fund is an education component.

The Minister said a comprehensive health promotion programme, costing between $300 million and $350 million annually, would be implemented. Details of the education programme are to be worked out.

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