Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson says 9,543 Jamaicans accessed medical care during the outreach by the United States Naval Ship Comfort from May 6-13, 2015. The services provided included optometry, dentistry, general medical, women’s health, pediatrics, and pharmacy.

Speaking during the closing ceremony on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, Dr. Ferguson said the Ministry has been on a drive to develop primary and secondary care services. He said despite these efforts partnerships are essential to increase the number of persons who can access services especially at the community level.

“The Ministry facilitated several persons obtaining surgeries on-board the ship some of whom were on a waiting list for various types of procedures. In addition, there were persons who accessed other services and may have been hearing for the first time that they have some kind of illness at that time,” he said.

He said Jamaica has been fortunate enough to have several visits from Missions each year which provide services to communities across the island. In addition, local service clubs, churches, the Ministry and its agencies also host health fairs in communities to ensure that persons are able to access services.

The USNS Comfort’s visit to Jamaica is part of ‘Continuing Promise’, a nearly six-month humanitarian mission across the Caribbean Region. Jamaica is the third stop.

In addition to medical interventions, the team provided engineering services to schools in Kingston and St. Andrew and participated in several Community Relations activities as well as knowledge exchange.