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Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Jamaican specialized health-care history

Figure 1. Lifespan over the years: Jamaica life expectancy 1950 – 2100 (Macrotrends, 2023)
Abbreviation: U.N.: United Nations.
National Health Service was established in the UK—partly
to appease a population increasingly disgruntled, leading
to events such as the 1938 riots (the year modern Jamaica
began, as stated by a former prime minister in his
autobiography [Seaga, 2009])—the colonial government
finally formed a medical school in Jamaica. The University
College of the West Indies enrolled prospective Caribbean
medical students who would obtain their medical training
and, for several decades, a University of London degree
(The University of the West Indies, 2023). Postgraduate
training continued to be conducted in the UK, although
from the 1970s, the United States (US) and Canada
became the favored sites for postgraduate training, along
with Jamaica itself, where postgraduate training in several
Figure 2. Causes of death in Jamaica, 2009 – 2019 (Institute for Health specialties also began. Despite these developments,
Metrics: Jamaica) (IHME, 2023)
Abbreviation: COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Jamaica’s proximity to North America and its status as
an English-speaking country have led to a constant brain
“metropole,” the UK, with the conservative faction seeking drain. Many health-care professionals, particularly doctors
to maintain ethnic and social hierarchies and the liberal and nurses, are actively recruited to North America,
lobby advocating for a more integrative and open approach. attracted by better working conditions, opportunities for
The plantocracy primarily aligned with the conservative career advancement, and higher salaries. This brain drain
camp, seeking to maintain the social hierarchy to which has had a profound and ongoing impact on Jamaica’s
they were accustomed. Ultimately, some autonomy from health-care system (Lofters, 2012).
the UK was achieved, and later, the Medical Association
of Jamaica was established, becoming the first professional 3. Current economic issues in healthcare in
organization launched in Jamaica. It became the first Jamaica
overseas branch of the British Medical Association in 1877 The issue is not only how long we will live but also what
(Medical Association of Jamaica, 2024). our quality of life will be in our later years. How useful
For many years thereafter, most physicians went to is the gain in years of life if they are spent in pain and
the UK for their medical training, including postgraduate suffering and as a financial drain on one’s own resources
medical education. In 1948, the same year that the and those of our families? Apart from novel viral agents

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 3 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2709