Social Impact with Emma » Ministry of Health : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Hunger, Obesity and Rural Poverty: All Part of the Same Picture

February 28th, 2018

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is holding the 35th Session of its Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montego Bay next week from March 5 – 8. Among its three top priorities for the meeting are hunger – and, paradoxically, obesity. Both are on the rise in the region. The other […]

Jamaica AIDS Support for Life: Celebrating Its 25th Birthday in Style, and Despite Challenges

November 29th, 2016

Thursday, December 1 is World AIDS Day. This piece is my personal, small (and probably very inadequate) tribute to all the men and women who have worked so hard to establish, build and maintain a non-governmental organization that has had more than its fair share of trials and challenges: Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL). […]

HIV/AIDS in Jamaica: Are The Kids Alright?

June 18th, 2016

My last post was about health issues, and it seems there is much more to say. This time I would like to touch on the issue of sexual and reproductive health, in particular among our youth. I recently attended the annual Health for All forum, involving a number of non-governmental partners including Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, […]

Health Care Reform: Promoting Wellness and a Healthy Environment

June 9th, 2016

Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has been doing a good job so far at keeping the Jamaican public informed on the strange complexities of the Zika virus. My husband and I recently had a bout of it; the only good thing about it is that it doesn’t last long. His huge portfolio, however, extends well […]

Water Is Life, and Life is Precious

September 15th, 2015

“The precious commodity.” This is how local journalists often characterize that element, which is a pretty small component of Planet Earth but which makes up a large percentage of the physical makeup of our own bodies. I am talking about water. Here are a few examples of how water (or the lack of it) is […]