Two years ago, as it struggled to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus and get people vaccinated, the Government of Jamaica turned to private health care providers for help. The results went well beyond its expectations.

Join LHSS, Doctors without Borders, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Honduras as we discuss the relationship between social protection in health and migration corridors in Latin America.

Join LHSS and the P4H Network on June 14 as we hear from local, national, and regional institutions working to advance social health protection for women and children in high migration contexts.

With a grant from LHSS, the Jamaican health care firm Online Medics is supporting the government’s COVID-19 vaccination effort while gaining valuable new business capacities. “LHSS allowed me to think in the long term – where I wanted my company to go and what I need to do to get it there,” says owner Alex Tracey.

The purpose of the assessment, conducted in 2021 by Two Oceans in Health for the LHSS Latin America and Caribbean Activity, was to understand the Dominican Republic context for expanding social health protection to migrant women.

This communications strategy outlines how the LHSS team will support the private sector providers in implementing their communication plans.

The LHSS Jamaica Grants Strategy guides implementation of the grants-under-contract component of the LHSS Jamaica activity, with the goal of increasing the capacity of local organizations to prepare, obtain, and manage successful health systems strengthening projects and activities.  

LHSS conducted this rapid assessment to better understand the current and potential role of the private health sector in Jamaica's COVID-19 response.

Since vaccines became available in 2021, only 26 percent of Jamaicans have been vaccinated – a far cry from the country’s goal of 65 percent by March 2022. Religious communities were among the victims of the misinformation causing vaccine hesitancy, with many of the country’s Christians believing the vaccines represented “the mark of the beast.” In response, the government called on church leaders to play a more prominent role in the country’s vaccination effort.

LHSS provides technical assistance to the Dominican Republic, and this five-year roadmap outlines a strategic vision, objectives, and initiatives for reaching the final milestone of expanded insurance and standardized health service packages for migrant women residing in or transiting through the Dominican Republic.

LHSS activity in the Dominican Republic during its first year of implementation and detailed steps to pilot initiatives that aim to improve SHP for migrants (including women) in the Dominican Republic

This video highlights the first training session for the standardization of HIV community services held in Santo Domingo, September 2021 by LHSS in partnership with the National Health Service.

On Friday, February 25, LHSS Jamaica hosted a signing ceremony with the Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness and USAID to launch the Private Sector COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Partnership.

For countries facing a large influx of migrants, the best way to ensure that these new members of society have sustained access to essential health services is to have a long-term strategy – one that builds on existing health platforms.

In the Dominican Republic, the dual impact of large numbers of migrants and a health system overwhelmed by COVID-19 has meant that fewer health services are available for migrant women. LHSS is working to improve health protection for the country’s migrant women, most of whom come from Haiti.