Shadow Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Alfred Dawes, has committed to improving the healthcare sector by providing incentives for nurses and doctors to stay in Jamaica while accusing the Andrew Holness administration of poorly managing the sector.

Dawes criticised the government for cutting ribbons but demanded that they call the general election, indicating ‘time come’ for the People’s National Party (PNP) to govern Jamaica. “And we say to them, with the ribbon them weh them a cut, all you a do, all weh you a walk up and down and a bend up your face, call it if you bad. Call it,” he said.

He emphasised that the PNP aims to create greater impact in the healthcare sector to foster a better society. “With this whole heap of ribbon-cutting, I am a surgeon, not a dressmaker. So when they are cutting ribbons over hospital weh them paint up, over clinic weh them paint up, when we are in, the People’s National Party government is not going to be cutting ribbons; we are going to cut hernias, we are going to cut fibroids, and we are going to cut cancers, because that is what we want for a healthier population,” he added.

He also criticised the government’s tactic of using PR to mask the poor handling of the healthcare system. “The marketing and PR done, the youth are demanding a healthier nation. Our parents and our grandparents deserve it, and I am going to state here tonight for the record that this government will go down as the worst government in Jamaica’s history when it comes to healthcare.

“And I have my receipts to back it up, because them love come after me. More mothers now, even though them boast, how much money them spending on healthcare, have a higher death rate today than in the 1980s. Babies today have a higher death rate than 20 years ago. And they’re blaming the babies, and they’re blaming the mothers. What can go so?” he continued while speaking at the People’s National Party Youth Organisation & the Patriots National Youth Rally on Sunday.

He expressed that under the Andrew Holness-led government, more citizens are suffering from chronic illnesses. “Comrades, under this administration, cancer rates are the highest ever. Diabetes rates are the highest ever. High blood pressure and stroke rates are the highest ever. Chronic kidney disease that requires dialysis, its highest ever. You know what has gone down for the first time in our history since independence? And this is the concrete evidence that this is the worst administration when it comes to healthcare. A baby born in 2025 has a lower life expectancy than a baby born in 2015,” Dawes said.

He stated the opposition has sought to hold the Holness administration accountable for the issue in healthcare, but that it has just received scrutiny. “Everywhere in the Americas, people are living longer. Jamaicans are expected to die at an earlier age under this administration. And we talk about it for a long time. We beg them. There’s a crisis in healthcare. Fix it instead of PR-ing your way out of it. And they say that we’re telling lies and creating political mischief. When everybody’s complaining about the system.”

Dawes noted that the challenges in the health sector not only stem from nurses and doctors migrating but also that the hospitals and clinics are broken. “The equipment is run down. And all of this is because they have an ‘eat a food policy over a healthy food policy’. So people are running. But the People’s National Party understands healthcare. And we know what we need to do.”

He further noted that the PNP plans to ensure healthcare workers have proper working conditions by providing the equipment for them to work with.

“The People’s National Party, when we’re in power, we will allow nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and all healthcare workers, when you hear a scheme, a bill, and it’s a lottery for you to try to get a house, we’re going to take you out of that lottery. And 5,000 homes will be available to you in the next administration. Not only that, but if you’re under age 35, we are going to put down $500,000 for you to meet that deposit so you can own a piece of the rock. So don’t go foreign; go build somebody’s country. Go build your house; add on a room.

“We know the Jamaican dream is to have a house and a car. And while they took the allowances from the healthcare workers and other civil servants, they gave themselves a 300 per cent increase. But we are going to right that wrong. And if a healthcare worker, a nurse, wants a car, they’re going to get a 20 per cent duty concession,” he added.