New Year's Message from MAJ's President - Medical Association of ...

Dear Colleagues,

The Medical Association of Jamaica which is the umbrella organization for all groups of doctors practicing in Jamaica, through its Executive and Council takes this opportunity to wish all Jamaicans a healthy, happy and productive New Year (2013). We wish to remind all Jamaicans of the inextricable linkages between health, happiness and productivity and the benefits to our entire society of keeping our eyes on the big picture. There are certain issues that together we can achieve in the New Year as we continue our goal of having the finest health care system in the world:

1. Road fatalities ? we must congratulate the nation on achieving the targets of last year and in particular Dr. Lucien Jones who spearheaded the initial road safety campaign during his Presidency of the Medical Association of Jamaica.

2. Tobacco smoking in Public Places ? This initiative of the Medical Association of Jamaica is finally about to be implemented in an attempt to not only reduce the incidence of chronic diseases associated with smoking but also to educate smokers regarding the risk involved in the exercise of their free choice.

3. Violent societal behavior ? with resultant homicides and morbidity. This year we are encouraging the entire nation to recognize the fact that anger needs to be managed so that it does not always result in aggressive or assaultive behavior. We need to decrease verbal and physical aggression in order to prevent the massive influx of patients in the emergency room which prevents other acute emergencies from receiving the care that they deserve.

4. Lifestyle moderation ? Our reputation as an athletic nation must be maintained not only by our elite athletes, but also by a society which manifestly values health, wellness and fitness In such a way as to make Jamaica a sought after destination for health care tourism.
This will inevitably produce more jobs in the health care sector at a variety of levels.
Health and wellness is not just confined to our practice of diet and exercise but must be extended to the proper management of sex, alcohol and marijuana. The growing addiction to pornography and marijuana use by adolescents have joined alcohol abuse among the chief barriers to (male) productivity and educational achievement.

5. Care of Jamaicans at the extremes of life ? Care of the elderly and the very young have always been priority markers of every health care system. Jamaica has achieved notable international success in the areas of life expectancy and infant mortality, but we are committed to even further improvement in the way we treat our newborns, our infants, our children, our adolescents and our elderly especially those lives are complicated by mental health problems and those who fall prey to antisocial behavior. During the ensuing year the Medical Association will cooperate with ALL other sectors of the Jamaican society to produce meaningful statistics, education, and guidelines towards achieving our well established millennium goals.

If we can focus on achieving these ?Olympian tasks? as a nation the resultant savings and productivity will make us truly healthy, wealthy and wise in 2013.

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Source: http://www.doctorsja.com/2013/02/new-years-message-from-majs-president/

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