Senator Joseph makes a case for renovation of the community clinics, since poor people deserve quality healthcare

Senator Johnathan Joseph is calling for immediate attention to be paid to the country’s healthcare sector, since that, as well as education, should be the priority of any government.

Speaking in the Upper House during debate on the Appropriations Bill, 2022, Joseph said that problems in the system should be tackled at the root – that is, the primary stage, which includes the community clinics.

Senator Joseph says the condition in which some of the clinics are kept is shameful, and the Ministry of Works should be urgently deployed to fix them.

Joseph notes that there is no allocation in the Appropriations Bill to deal with their renovation; but the facilities are falling apart, and he has witnessed this firsthand. 

Too often now, he observes, clinics are being closed for various reasons, including being in a state of disrepair and, therefore, unsafe for the workers.

According to Joseph, poor people should have access to quality healthcare, and he is therefore critical of the conditions at the Johnsons Point Health Centre.

Meanwhile, the Senator is asking why cleaners are being forced to bring sanitary products – such as bleach – from their homes to sanitize the government-run clinic.

Joseph is also the United Progressive Party’s Candidate for St. Mary’s North.