Black Immigrant Daily News
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, has hit out at deviant behaviour across the society, which he said are serving to rack up trauma cases at the nation’s hospitals.
The Health and Wellness Minister announced that last year the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) recorded some 158 road fatalities, with the parish of St James accounted for some 48.
Tufton was speaking during the handing over of four new ambulances to the WRHA at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James on Friday.
“One of the reasons why I wanted these four ambulances on display, and there are many others that we’re requiring, is because it’s important for us to explain to the population that trauma, antisocial behaviour, which manifests itself even in the indiscipline on the roads where in this region, western region, 158 fatalities, I am told, took place last year. In this parish we had the most, I think it was 48. This is where road rage or road accidents or road impatience, or just clearly not knowing the road code, has led to accidents that have cost lives,” said Tufton.
He argued that the society is too often characterised by aggression and indiscipline that ultimately result in trauma.
“I’m not here to moralise or to preach or even to teach, but part of the future of our country and our people is going to have to get back to the basic values of just encouraging a culture of law and order and basic decency,” Tufton said.
He advocated for the revival of the Values and Attitudes programme that was launched by former Prime Minister PJ Patterson in 1994.
“There was a time in a previous dispensation… and I am being politically neutral now, where there was a programme called Values and Attitudes. I believe it was launched under former Prime Minister PJ Patterson(‘s leadership). I am not afraid to say we need a values and attitudes resurrection in this country. And that there is a relationship between our propensity to be indisciplined and the need for additional ambulances and hospital beds and operating theatres and programmes like Code Care,” the health minister said.
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