The health ministry is rejecting as inaccurate and misleading a headline on the front page of the Jamaica Gleaner on Friday. The headline, which states ‘Gasping for air’ proceeds a story that alleged half of the ventilators in the public healthcare system are not working.
In a statement a short while ago, the health ministry said the inclusion in the article of obsolete equipment in the calculation of ventilators that are in the system is both misleading and inaccurate.
Obsolete ventilators refer to equipment which are to be thrown away due to being in a state of disrepair but are awaiting an administrative process before they are physically dispensed with.
The ministry says it accounted for those ventilators which can no longer be used to give a full and transparent picture of what is on record.
However, the ministry says it clearly distinguished between ventilators which may no longer be used as opposed to those which were sent for servicing or parts replacement.
According to the health ministry, outdated equipment such as beds or chairs which are in a permanent state of disrepair remain on file awaiting board of certification for disposal, which is normally a lengthy process.
The ministry says a fair and more accurate conclusion by the newspaper would be to say at the time of audit, fewer than a third of the ventilators were found to be out of circulation, whether due to being sent for servicing or for parts replacement.
The health ministry says these numbers are not unusual and would represent a more accurate depiction of the state of affairs.
“The Gleaner’s sub-title, which states that half of the ventilators are dysfunctional, includes obsolete equipment, misrepresents the truth”, the ministry said.
According to the Ministry of Health, it is worthy of note that the more than 100 ventilators being active at time of audit represents the largest numbers in circulation in Jamaica.
The ministry says while this point was mentioned in the body of the Gleaner’s article, it is clearly devalued by the misleading headline.
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