NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Health Minister Dr Michael Darville said the government has approved the hiring of nearly 500 healthcare professionals and related workers.
He was speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday afternoon.
He said: “I am pleased to announce that the cabinet of The Bahamas approved the hiring of some 478 allied healthcare professionals, clerks, handymen, nurse assistance, family Island ambulance drivers and janitress to be deployed throughout the Bahamas and the good news is that training has already begun to enable us to fill many of the employment gaps that currently exist.
“With this increase in human resources along with 50 Cuban nurses we believe we will be able to reduce some of the delays being experienced in the delivery of primary and hospital base healthcare across the country.”
Darville also revealed statistics indicating a decline in visits to healthcare facilities and childhood immunizations.
He said: “The preliminary health utilization data for the period 2018-2021 revealed that some 580,045 visits were made at primary Health Care facilities across the country.
“This overall figure showed an increase of 29 percent of all visits made to clinics. However, there was a noticeable decline in annual visits to healthcare facilities in New Providence over the period 2019-2021 by 24 percent.
“We are still analyzing the data but preliminary findings confirm that the decline in primary healthcare visits are directly related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Also it’s important to note that preliminary data regarding immunization coverage for infants born in 2020 implied that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the national immunization goal for over 90 percent coverage of infants and children 2 months to 15 months of age.”
