THE COUNTRY'S health sector is to receive a further boost with the training of additional health care practitioners in conventional as well as alternative health care.
A project of the diaspora, the programme will not only see to the training of new medical practitioners, including nurses and doctors, but also the training of persons practising in these professions.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Dr. Harold Mignott, chair of the Diaspora Advisory Board, said the programme, to be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), along with other top agencies in the United States, will come on stream in Jamaica and the Caribbean within the next three months.
"One of the aspects we have seen in terms of health care, is the lack of human resources needed to improve health," Dr. Mignott said.
WORLD-CLASS INSTITUTION
He expressed that the model will see a world-class institution that will spawn health tourism. Said he: "We want to cater to foreigners and give them high quality health care, which will benefit our economy and will give the health sector a buoyancy in terms of upgrading the sector without much cost to the Government."
However, according to Dr. Mignott, the model will lend to the development of training and education of wellness professionals to deliver all of the alternative health and wellness services at spas and facilities throughout the Caribbean.
The decision, he said, was taken during a conference with (the IDB), medical professionals and investors discussing 'private investment opportunities in the Caribbean health and wellness sector' in Washington D.C. on May 9.
CARIBBEAN WELLNESS CONFERENCE
He added that the Caribbean Spa Association will organise a conference by September of this year to focus exclusively on developing Caribbean wellness and alternative health education programmes and educational standards.
Dr. Mignott, a Jamaican, is an internist and a lecturer at the Medical Centre of the University of Pennsylvania .
Alternative health care is a diverse medical and health-care system and practice that uses products that are not currently considered to be part of conventional medicine.
