Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Dr. Manuel Pena, PAHO/WHO representative, presents Dr. Alfred Carnegie with a plaque commemorating his achievements in the field of medicine at PAHO's Heroes of Health ceremony on Thursday night at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston. Fifteen outstanding individuals and institutions were recognised for their contributions to health in Jamaica and the Caribbean at the ceremony.
AS PART of its centennial celebrations, the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) honoured 15 outstanding medical practitioners, nurses, surgeons, researchers and institutions for their contributions to health care on Thursday night at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.
Jamaica's PAHO Heroes of Health are: Carmen Bowen-Wright (primary health care and community health), Alfred Carnegie (surgery, family planning and treatment of communicable diseases), Lawson Douglas (first to perform a kidney transplant in the Caribbean), Peter Fiegueroa (research and programme development for HIV/AIDS), Knox Hagley (community health care in the Caribbean), Una Jacobs (family planning in Jamaica and the Western hemisphere), Ronald Lampart (surgery, family planning, general practitioner and public health specialist), Eugena McFarquhar (community nursing), Christina Moody (primary health care), Errol Morrison (work in the field of diabetes), Mary Seivwright (advancement of nursing profession throughout the Caribbean), Graham Serjeant (work with the Jamaica Sickle Cell Unit), the Jamaica Cancer Society (work in the fight against all forms of cancer), Mustard Seed Communities (social work with abandoned mentally and physically challenged children in the Caribbean) and Rotary International District 7020 (programme against poliomyelitis).
Tonight we are celebrating perhaps the most meaningful, touching and solemn event of our centennial," PAHO/World Health Organisation Representative, Dr. Manuel Pena said. "That is to honour outstanding individuals who have contributed significantly to the health and wellness of our region. But if we take a retrospective look at our accomplishments over the last century, we all know that all of these would not have been possible without the collective will of our countries and the great devotions of millions of health workers."
PAHO named 11 Heroes of Health for the entire Americas region in January, which included Jamaican Sir Kenneth Living-stone Standard for his work in maternal and child health, child nutrition, community involvement in public health, and medical education.
Thursday's ceremony, with PAHO national Champion of Health Courtney Walsh in attendance, revealed the breadth and depth of achievements attained in Jamaica and the Caribbean by some of the many other extraordinary individuals in the region.
"Health care is about people," Health Minister John Junor told the audience, "and it is about people caring for people. It is one of those areas of human endeavour where we cannot substitute the human being."
PAHO was formed as the International Sanitary Bureau in Washington D.C. in December 1902 following a general convention of representatives of the health organisations of the different American republics. The fundamental causes of the organisation are to promote the efforts of the region's countries to combat disease, lengthen life, and promote the physical and mental health of their people.
