Entertainers answer charity call
– JMDA head welcomes much needed support
On Saturday, a host of entertainers answered the call for help through the staging of the Shaggy and Friends concert. Held at on the lawns of Jamaica House, the charity event featured live performances from some of music’s finest, including Sting, Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons, Dexta Daps, Wyclef Jean, Aidonia, and others.
However, the live entertainment wasn’t the main thing that attracted hundreds of patrons to the event. Many persons attended the charity event so that they could contribute to the construction of an Intensive Care Unit at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
In an interview with THE STAR yesterday, president of the Jamaica Medical Doctor’s Association, Dr Elon Thompson said the entertainers’ input is a welcome contribution towards the health industry.
“We welcome every effort made to promote positive things in the health sector, and we would hope that this level of positivity would be applied to every other aspects that these entertainers lends their talents to,” he said.
The concert is the brainchild of platinum, selling recording artiste Shaggy. The Bustamante Hospital for Children is not just only the only paediatric hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, but in Jamaica it is the only major healthcare facility that offers specialised services for children.
Thompson said he is hoping that the charitable act will continue and that the Government will play its part as it relates to improving the health sector.
“We really hope that this will continue and that while the entertainers and other private entities are doing their part, the Government will be vigilant in getting the supplies needed for the health sector that is currently deficient,” he added.
In addition to the Bustamante Hospital for Children, much needed attention is also being given to the Linstead Hospital in St Catherine courtesy of reggae singer Iba Mahr, who recently held the third staging of Sound di Alarm, a benefit concert for the medical facility.
Emphasising on his appreciation for the recent charitable gestures, Thompson added that currently, there is no medical facility that is operating at its full potential.
“All of these hospitals need support. I can’t think of one hospital that is close to operating on the level that it should. However, the Cornwall Regional Hospital needs a lot of assistance. It is the one that assists most, if not all of the western parishes, and we really want it to be up and running at 100 per cent,” he said.