Tufton accuses Opposition of ‘playing on people’s emotions’ over dead babies
Published:Tuesday | July 1, 2025 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is using emotional manipulation and reckless political tactics in a bid to gain political benefit from the recent neonatal deaths at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in Kingston.
However, Tufton is asserting that the Andrew Holness-led Government has learnt from past failures and is committed to systemic improvements in the health sector, which is reason enough to nullify the arguments being advanced by the PNP.
“The problem with the orange people (PNP) is that they come up with spurious arguments to play on people’s emotions, to play on their fears, hoping that they will get elected,” said Tufton, who was speaking at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Westmoreland Central workers awards ceremony in Savanna-la-Mar on Sunday.
Responding to the PNP, which has labelled the situation as an unfolding health crisis, Tufton said in seeking to politicise the tragic deaths of premature babies at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, the PNP is drawing a flawed comparisons to events that occurred during their administration in 2015.
“All of a sudden, the PNP has a theory, a theory about calling for resignations and comparing what happened in 2015 with what has transpired here in 2025,” said Tufton. “None of us on our side (JLP administration), certainly not me, has ever made a statement about babies not being babies in the real sense. That was the most insensitive comment that any political leader or policymaker could have made, as was made by the then minister of health (Dr Fenton Ferguson).”
NO POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY
Tufton also insisted that the Government’s response has been measured and informed by empathy, not political expediency. He also defended the integrity of health sector professionals, saying the Opposition was undermining doctors, nurses, and policy writers in their bid to score political points.
“They are prepared to discredit the very technocrats who work in healthcare in order to get state power. They are reckless,” said Tufton, while expressing sympathy for the affected families, arguing that the Opposition’s rhetoric is amplifying and not helping their pain.
In contrasting the current Government’s posture with what he called the “insensitive and dismissive” approach of the PNP administration in 2015, Tufton said it was public outrage, and not any noble act of accountability, which forced the resignation of key officials then.
“They should contextualise and recognise that it’s not only the prime minister (Holness) who called for resignation then. A country was in outrage. A country called for their resignation. We have learnt from their mistakes and the errors of their ways,” said Tufton.
Calling on the country to unite in support of grieving families, Tufton said “all of Jamaica must see this as a tragedy ... the system that we have been working to build back, having succeeded them in 2016, is aimed at addressing these risks and striving for excellence”.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie has confirmed an increase in the number of newborn deaths at the VJH since the start of June. But she says the rise is not linked to an infection outbreak.
“The Ministry of Health and Wellness has reviewed the deaths at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital Special Care Nursery since the beginning of June 2025. There has been an increase compared to the previous months and to the same period last year. The deaths are not attributed to an infection outbreak at the facility,” said Dr Bisasor McKenzie.
However, Dr Alfred Dawes, the opposition spokesman on health, has disputed the official explanation, saying it is evidence of deeper systemic issues, citing 229 neonatal deaths from October 2023 to June 2025.