King's House MedHelp News tag:www.kingshousemedhelp.com,2008:/news//2 2008-05-15T20:30:59Z Movable Type 3.2 Run on hospitals tag:www.kingshousemedhelp.com,2007:/news//2.1 2007-12-09T20:29:39Z 2008-05-15T20:30:59Z Undue pressure on public hospitals from the previous People's National Party (PNP) administration's policy of free health care for children... simone Undue pressure on public hospitals from the previous People's National Party (PNP) administration's policy of free health care for children is making health-care providers fearful that any further move to free up health care in public-health facilities could be disastrous.

They say before any imposition of the sort can be made, Government must move with urgency to upgrade public hospitals and improve staff complements and equipment in the sector.

Government promised that its free health regime, which was a promise of its campaign leading up to the September 3 general election, would be instituted by April 2008.

Since the imposition of free health care for children by the Portia Simpson Miller-led administration in May, hospitals have been bending over backwards to meet the added demand on its accident and emergency (A&E) units.

The Bustamante Hospital for Children, for example, has been seeing up to three times the number of patients since the freeing up of health care for children, The Sunday Gleaner understands. Those seeking care in A&E increased from just about 100 patients to 300 last month.

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]]> Health alert! - Cases of dengue tag:www.kingshousemedhelp.com,2009:/news//2.2 2007-10-12T20:32:17Z 2008-05-15T21:00:59Z A health CRISIS is looming over the island as the Ministry of Health and Environ-ment has confirmed one death associated... simone A health CRISIS is looming over the island as the Ministry of Health and Environ-ment has confirmed one death associated with dengue fever, five suspected cases of the deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever, and 100 cases of leptospirosis.

In addition, the ministry on Tuesday, also identified one new case of malaria in Waterhouse, St. Andrew. This comes after 15 weeks of no new cases being reported.

The Ministry of Health said the increase in the number of cases of dengue is as a result of Hurricane Dean in August, and the heavy rains currently lashing the island.

Acting on the instruction of the ministry, prisoners at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre are being X-rayed, following the death of an inmate who was diagnosed with tuberculosis last month.

"Our active surveillance and monitoring system has shown that cases and 975 suspected cases of dengue between the months of July and September," Rudyard Spencer, the Minister of Health and Environment told reporters at a press conference yesterday.

Mr. Spencer said this was the highest number of reported cases since 1998.

Dengue fever is a viral illness, transmitted by the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito and occurs in two forms: Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever.

Dengue fever is marked by the onset of sudden high fever, severe headache and pain behind the eyes, muscles and joints.

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]]> Diet and prostate cancer tag:www.kingshousemedhelp.com,2007:/news//2.3 2007-08-15T20:33:09Z 2008-05-15T20:34:05Z One's diet is believed to play an important role in the causation of prostate cancer. Epidemiological studies, looking at different... simone One's diet is believed to play an important role in the causation of prostate cancer. Epidemiological studies, looking at different populations where the incidence of prostate cancer varies widely, suggest that differences in diet may partly account for these variations.

It is known, for example, that Asian men living in Asia have a very low incidence of prostate cancer. However, when these men migrate to America and adopt a Westernised lifestyle, within a generation, their incidence of prostate cancer approximates that of their white American counterparts.

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