Nassau, The Bahamas - “Recovery is precisely what this budget is all about, it is the economic elixir for what ails the nation, we will recover,” said the Hon. Renward Wells, Minister of Health during his contribution to the 2021/2022 budget debate.
The road to recovery is not an easy one. Minister Wells said, however, with the Seven-Pillared Accelerate Bahamas Recovery plan, we chart our steps to rapidly return to a sense of normalcy.
The Ministry of Health looks to participate in the rollout of that plan. Health care and vaccinations form the third pillar. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health has been allocated $297,081,014 for the fiscal year to support the objectives.
- $223,455,825 for the PHA
- $45,000,000 for the National Health Insurance Authority and
- $47,474,124 for the Department of Public Health
These appropriations will facilitate four areas of the healthcare sector, substantial investment expansion of telemedicine to improve access to healthcare; expansion of universal health coverage via National Health Insurance and enhancement of supports to mitigate COVID-19, including vaccinations.
We are a government, committed with our whole heart to the enhancement of our healthcare system. The focus is on saving lives, improving health outcomes and placing much more care into the word “healthcare.”
From the beginning, he said, the government has been busy with the Bahamian people’s business building a more resilient and economically prosperous society through food security, food sovereignty, education and energy security.
