Jamaica partnering with India to boost local healthcare delivery
Published:Thursday | April 10, 2025 | 2:33 PM
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is currently in India with a team from his ministry as Jamaica advances discussions with that country for a strategic partnership to improve healthcare delivery through development of human resources and the provision of affordable drugs.
Discussions had already started between Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.
Tufton said a range of issues have been discussed in this latest round of talks, including the completion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“The MoU will see a number of issues around health that we will collaborate on, including drugs and access to drugs… but also, very importantly, around human resource development and the collaboration around training – training for our healthcare workers in specialised areas, and our nurses in particularly,” he disclosed.
He said the partnership with India is anticipated to yield solutions to the prevailing problems of human resources for health on the island.
“We lose a lot of our healthcare workers, including our nurses, to other markets and we are trying to expand, but we are short on faculty and clinical rotation space. It (our collaboration with India) will mean healthcare workers coming here (to India) for clinical rotation and also training of trainers,” Tufton said.
“It will also mean, where we have immediate gaps, accessing from workers here in India, with workers from India taking up some of the positions on a temporary basis while we expand the local healthcare workforce,” the health minister added.
The Jamaica delegation has also met with the All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, the leading medical school in India; and have had discussions around exploring training for both nurses and doctors, including faculty and student exchanges.
The delegation has also visited the Artemis Hospital and Naraya Superspecialty Hospital, also to explore training and collaboration opportunities.
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