Jamaica to Enhance Cancer Data Tracking with New Software

Press Release from the Ministry of Health and Wellness:

KINGSTON, Jamaica. Tuesday, October 24, 2023: Jamaica will be the first country in the Caribbean and second in the world to use the health information management platform, District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2) to enable population-wide reporting on cancer burden by the National Cancer Registry (NCR) of Jamaica. 

The use of this groundbreaking software is made possible through the award of a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies ¬Data for Health (D4H) Initiative’s Global Grants Programme, for the Project entitled: “Using DHIS2 to Strengthen Cancer Registration Data Systems in Low-resourced Countries: From Rwanda to Jamaica”, submitted by the Ministry, in collaboration with Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).   

Speaking at the project launch in New Kingston on Tuesday (October 24), Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christpher Tufton noted that “There is a prevailing need for local data to guide response, policy development and programme monitoring and evaluation in order to achieve comprehensive cancer prevention and control.”

“It is against this background that Jamaica has included in its National Strategic and Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Cancer, the improvement in data collection and utilisation within the National Cancer Registry,” Dr. Tufton added.

The project is to improve cancer control by operationalising a data collection and reporting system that will improve the availability of national cancer data, which can be used by the Ministry to guide cancer prevention and control strategies locally. This will involve the installation, customisation and use of an oncology module using the health information management platform District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2).

In the April 2023 publication of Jamaica’s Vitals, the NCDs Edition, cancer is shown to be the leading cause of death in the island, accounting for some 23.7% of non-communicable diseases deaths and 18.9% of all deaths in 2020. There were an estimated 7,348 new cancer cases, and 4,746 cancer deaths in 2020. 

Breast and Prostate cancers were shown to be among the top six leading cause of death. Over a decade (2010 to 2020), breast cancer increased by 63% and prostate cancer by 25%.

Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, MP examines the Project Commitment Letter presented by Dr. Joy St. John, (2nd right) Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CAPPHA) during the launch of the use the health information management platform, District Health Information Software version 2 (DHIS2) to enable population-wide reporting on cancer burden by the National Cancer Registry (NCR) of Jamaica. Looking on are Dr. Simone Spence, Director of Health Promotion & Protection Branch in the Ministry of Health & Wellness (left) and Dr. Heather Armstrong, Head, the Chronic Disease and Injury Department and Principal Investigator, IARC Caribbean Cancer Registry Hub, CARPHA. Jamaica will be the first country in the Caribbean and second in the world to use the health information management platform.

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