Work is to begin today to repair equipment in public hospitals by a team of Biomedical Engineers which arrived from Cuba last week. This forms part of the Biomedical Services Agreement between the Ministry of Health and Cuban Medical Services worth US$350,000.
The team from Cuban Medical Services will first focus on dental, operating theatre and paediatric equipment.

The elements of the agreement involve the repair, installation and calibration of equipment, planning and monitoring repair of major hospital equipment and systems and conducting training of local technicians. The Ministry is also in the process of strengthening the Health Facilities Maintenance Unit to ensure sustainability after the completion of the two year Biomedical Services contract with Cuba.

Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer said “a recommendation that was made by the exploratory team was for the strengthening of the Health Facilities Maintenance Unit (HFMU) in the Ministry. We have done that with the recruitment of two engineers and three biomedical technicians. This is the first step in building an elite team at the Ministry of Health to respond expeditiously to the needs of the Regions to reduce down time as a result of equipment failure.”

In February of this year a two-member team of Cuban biomedical engineers visited Jamaica and carried out an exploratory survey of malfunctioning equipment at twelve hospitals and the public health laboratory. Eight hundred and fifteen (815) pieces of biomedical equipment were assessed. Sixty five percent (65%) was found to be functioning but not at optimal levels. Seventy five percent (75%) of the malfunctioning equipment was deemed to be repairable.

These include incubators, anatomy and pathology equipment, ventilators, neonate incubators, large autoclaves, surgical and dental equipment.