KINGSTON, Jamaica – Expectant mothers are being urged to take greater responsibility for their well-being in the wake of concern about a rise in neonatal deaths at the island’s largest maternity hospital.

NASSAU, Bahamas – The Bahamas government says it is pausing the recruitment of nurses from Cuba and will also cancel its existing contracts with a Cuban recruitment agency.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Armstrong Alexis, says the formal adoption of the Pandemic Agreement by the World Health Assembly (WHA) last month is critical to the 15-member grouping’s ability to provide for the needs of its population in the event of another pandemic.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Antigua and Barbuda prime Minister Gaston Browne Wednesday said the number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean who die by suicide or live with a mental disorder represents lives overshadowed by despair, potential left unrealized and families hollowed by grief.

CASTRIES – The Eastern Caribbean has launched a project to boost pandemic preparedness and response in the sub-region bringing renewed focus to building resilient, integrated health systems that can better detect and respond to future health threats.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the government will continue its partnership with Cuba, as it relates to the participation of the Cuban medical mission.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Antigua and Barbuda says it is recalling shipments of Little Remedies Honey Cough Syrup due to the presence of Bacillus cereus and loss of shelf stability as well as the possibility of death.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Government has announced major improvements in the health care sector that would see an expansion of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) capacity by 40 per cent, and upgrades to the island’s polyclinics, including construction of two new ones.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Pan American Health organization (PAHO) says while new data suggests progress in voluntary blood donation across Latin America and the Caribbean, key challenges however remain in achieving 100 percent voluntary donations.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Antigua and Barbuda will later this month host a forum on mental health in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization PAHO/WHO) announced on Tuesday.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica’s capacity for accurate and timely forensic examinations has been bolstered with the opening of the new state-of-the-art forensic pathology autopsy suite.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President Irfaan Ali says the opening of the new multi-million Diamond Regional Hospital, will provide health care services for more than 40,000 people along the East Bank corridor.