‘FAULTY CONCLUSIONS’
Tufton rubbishes assessments made by Opposition spokesman Dawes on PROMAC
Published:Saturday | June 22, 2024 | 12:09 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton has dismissed as “faulty conclusions” his opposition counterpart Dr Alfred Dawes’ assessment of the Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC).
Tufton said PROMAC, funded mainly by the European Union, received high praises from its sponsors at its two-year conclusion and contributed to saving hundreds of lives.
Tufton said the programme set out to meet several targets, noting that it was not accurate to look at one aspect and arrive at inaccurate conclusions that serve particular narrow ends.
He said the programme established high-dependency units at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, Victoria Jubilee, Spanish Town, and St Ann’s Bay hospitals.
Tufton said those establishments were in as much physical structures – renovating an area or building a new structure.
He said St Ann’s Bay and Spanish Town hospitals have structures while the others benefited from significant equipment. Staff training and health campaigns, including patient rights, were also part of the programme.
He said 29 ventilators were added to the system under the programme.
Dawes criticised the Government over the programme which was funded at €22million or J$4 billion, concluding that it was botched.
Inadequate healthcare system
He said the health of mothers and neonates is at risk due to an inadequate public healthcare system in Jamaica despite the programme.
However, the health minister has rubbished the argument, noting that at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Government was forced to divert some PROMAC resources to help combat the spread of the deadly disease.
He said this is missing from Dawes’ narrative which has led to “faulty conclusions”.
Tufton said for two years the programme focused on the fight against COVID-19.
He said PROMAC resources were used, with the agreement of sponsors to construct isolation wards.
“I make no apology because we had to save lives,” said Tufton.
He said since the declaration came of COVID-19 no longer being a national threat, the Government has gradually reintroduced the PROMAC infrastructure to its original intention.
He said 1,345 patients have been served by PROMAC in the 2023-24 financial year. Added to that, he said equipment has been provided to regional health authorities.
“These are lives. Real people; mothers who develop significant complications [and] babies or neonates who had complications. The system, the infrastructure worked for them to save their lives in those instances.
“So, it is very unfortunate that an insinuation is made that somehow this expenditure went to nought,” said Tufton.
He said this undermines the credibility of the partnerships established.
Increased maternal mortality rate
At the same time, he acknowledged the increase in the maternal mortality rate.
Statistics from the health and wellness ministry show that the maternal mortality rate moved from 96.4 per 100,000 live births in 2017 to 156.7 in 2022. The target is 70 per 100,000 live births.
In the South East Regional Health Authority, the rate moved from 125.9 per 100,000 live births in 2017 to 129.4 in 2022. For the North East Regional Health Authority, it moved from 79.8 to 124.3. The rate moved from 91.6 to 118.5 in the Western Regional Health Authority.
The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) saw the most significant increase with its maternal mortality rate moving from 26.8 per 100,000 live births in 2017 to 273 in 2022.
Tufton said COVID-19 brought significant side effects to maternal care. The ministry attributed two of the 18 maternal deaths in SRHA to COVID-19.
“It’s not unique to Jamaica. Indeed, the global figures suggest that maternal mortality went up because of the COVID pandemic. And we were as much victims of that as the world was victim … . It wasn’t just about the virus. It was about mothers turning up late, chronic illnesses that have not been treated or controlled which made the pregnancies more risky and a number of other issues,” said Tufton.