Grenada is an island state which is located one hundred miles north of Venezuela. The country has a population of one hundred thousand people. It has a parliamentary democracy with a literacy rate of eighty eight percent in 2000. The Ministry of Health manages the health sector in the country. The Minister of Health is the political head of the Ministry of Health. The Chief Medical Officer is the technical officer of the Ministry of Health.
Grenada provides health services using public facilities but the private health care sector is growing in recent years. The government had adopted the primary health care approach to improve the health status of the population. Health promotion has been one of the major approaches towards improving the overall health status of the public. The public sector includes a two hundred and forty bed General Hospital and two rural hospitals, Princess Alice in St Andrews and Princess Royal in Carriacou.
The General Hospital also has a psychiatric unit with twenty beds. Private health care facilities have been growing with a number of hospitals, nursing homes, maternity units and clinics in many areas of the country. Most medicine and supplies are acquired by a regional program managed by the Eastern Caribbean Pharmaceutical Procurement Service. The public health system is directly controlled by the government while legislation helps to regulate the private system.
Some private insurance companies operate inside the country by providing health insurance modalities. The country also has a National Insurance Scheme which provides pension and health benefits to retired people. The current health system is considered inadequate in carrying out important decisions and actions. The government has sought to actively reform the health care system (Pan American Health Organization, 2006). Grenada’s health system is based on the primary case approach to improving the health of the population.
The Health Ministry has recently proposed to reorganize the system in the quality of services, physical facilities, service demand and hours of services. It also seeks to use technologies and rationalization of medical stations. A national health insurance program is also being introduced which will help the financing of the health services. It will create an equitable way of pumping new resources while improving the quality of care provided to the people. Communicable diseases are the leading causes of death in the country.
The government in response intends to create a system of delegation and decentralization which achieve greater efficiency and improve the quality of care. There are an estimated fifty nine medical practitioners employed in the public health sector with an estimated twenty doctors working for the private sector. Grenada has a population of eight physicians per ten thousand people. The total number of registered nurses is two hundred and forty two. Pharmaceuticals are imported by the government using the regional program managed by the Eastern Carribean Drug Service.
It provides members with lower prices for medication. A national drug list allows citizens to have access to drugs. Most of the high technology equipment is available at the General Hospital in the capital. Grenada has a number of private companies providing health insurance which are registered with the Ministry of Health. Acute care services, mental care services and community health services are provided by the ministry which aims at addressing health issues and problems that face the population (Pan American Health Organization, 2006).