The minister of health and wellness is forging ahead with legislation for a National Health Insurance Plan (NHIP). The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) recently hosted a public forum to engage citizens on the matter.
The event highlighted some important considerations that are needed to flesh out this vision, including citizen partnership and acceptance, private sector buy-in and partnership, and a requirement for the involvement of technology at all levels of the system.
I am fully onboard with the development of the NHIP. It is needed and Jamaica is ready. It could lead to the desired universal health coverage, which will seek to equalise the population in terms of achieving an acceptable quality of life, healthcare and productivity. If we can achieve excellent health coverage, we can also achieve a more socially, economically and educationally wealthy population, which augurs well for the country’s development.
The Green Paper on NHIP gives a good overview of its intent. While I know it was not meant to provide any detail on the administration of the programme or all the technical moving parts required, I hope consideration has been given to the critical role of technology to its success.
PAHO states that “health technologies are essential for a functioning health system and medical devices … are crucial in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and disease as well as inpatient rehabilitation. An effective National Health Plan includes one (or more) sections on health technology with Government units enacting health technology policies”.
The basic benefits package outlined in the Green Paper include health promotion, diagnostics, immunisation, non-communicable disease (NCD) treatment and care, pharmaceutical services, primary healthcare, and laboratory and imaging services. All of these areas would be easier administered and have added value if technology formed the core of the system.
The NHIP comes at a time when Jamaica, like the rest of world, is faced with an ageing population and a continuous increase in the prevalence of NCDs. This means that advanced technologies such as telemedicine, e-health and remote care devices with interoperability support can play a critical role in healthcare delivery, especially where there is a need to broaden access. In our case, there are several underserved communities that can benefit from the use of technology in the public health system.
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