SEEING COLLEAGUE journalists struggle quietly with medical challenges and other personal crises is what moved veteran practitioner Janet Silvera to propose a welfare fund for Jamaican journalists. Silvera, who is also an entrepreneur, will make the first contribution of $1 million to the Journalism Welfare Fund from the proceeds of the Jill Stewart Mobay City Run she founded. Dashan Hendricks, president of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), announced the creation of the fund during the PAJ’s annual national awards ceremony in St Andrew on Saturday. He said the fund will provide support to journalists facing hardships, whether due to illness, financial challenges or unexpected personal challenges. Hendricks told The Gleaner that the executive of the PAJ will meet to discuss how it will be structured. Further, he said the PAJ will hold a number of activities to raise money for the fund. CMC: JAMAICAN AMERICAN actress Sheryl Lee Ralph has joined the conversation surrounding the discontinuation of the Cuban Medical Brigade programme. “Will America now send the doctors so badly needed in Jamaica,”said Ralph in a post on social media in response to a Gleaner news report. The question followed an announcement by Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, that the longstanding programme would be discontinued. Opposition Spokesperson on Foreign and Regional Affairs, Senator Donna Scott-Mottley, subsequently called for the government to provide Jamaicans with a detailed explanation for its decision to terminate the medical cooperation arrangement with Cuba. The foreign ministry on Saturday night issued a statement in which it stated that it discontinued the Cuba– Jamaica medical cooperation programme after Cuba failed to reasonably respond to a proposal for changes to the arrangement to address concerns it was not in keeping with local law and international conventions. In a statement, the ministry said chief among the government’s concerns was that Cuban medical professionals were initially not in possession of their own passports and that, outside of overtime payments, their salaries were not paid directly to them, but instead in US dollars to the Cuban authorities by Jamaica. The programme has been an established part of Jamaica’s healthcare system, for 50 years, with Cuban doctors and other medical professionals serving in hospitals and clinics across the island. Scott-Mottley said the sudden conclusion of the partnership raises serious questions that the government must address. The government said it was making arrangements with other countries such as Ghana and the Philippines, to provide health services. THE MONTHLY GLEANER | MARCH 12 - APRIL 11, 2026 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 3 ‘Will America now send the doctors...? Janet Silvera Sheryl Lee Ralph FILE Sheryl Lee Ralph joins debate over exit of Cuban Medical Brigade from Jamaica Welfare fund established to assist journalists in need School shelter strain ACTING PRINCIPAL of Godfrey Stewart High School Stacey-Ann Ottey Clarke says the school’s administration is disappointed after state agencies failed to honour a January deadline to remove hurricane-impacted shelterees from the school’s compound. A total of 10 people are still being housed at the school, down from 300 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 storm that ravaged the island on October 28 last year and displaced thousands. Although sympathetic to the plight of the hurricane victims, she said their prolonged accommodation at the school, which is located in Westmoreland, is impacting the teaching-and-learning process. Last week, the Jamaica Teachers’Association (JTA) threatened further action if government agencies fail to present an immediate, time-bound plan to remove hurricane-affected shelterees from school compounds. While acknowledging mitigation measures implemented by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, including enhanced safety protocols and monitoring, the association said such steps could not replace the full restoration of schools to their primary function. JAMAICA’S FIRST female Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller heads the list of outstanding women to be specially recognised at this year’s Pinnacle Awards set for March 14 at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. Hailed as trailblazers in their varying fields, the list includes; Fae Ellington, broadcaster & actress; Professor Minerva Thame, first female dean of the UWI Medical School; J.C Lodge, artiste; Cedella Marley, philanthropist; Althea Laing, fashion model, educator and image consultant; Dr. Reem June Daley, founder of the Miss Jamaica UK pageant; Dr. Terri-Karelle Johnson, author and host; Ionie Ramsay-Nelson, services to law enforcement; Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, netballer; Rhonda Walker-Walters, social intervention strategist; Carla Moore, artist, academic, activist; Nancy McClean, first female hotel manager at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel Rev. Dr. Sheila McKeith, the event’s guest speaker, for her service to faith and community development. Ambassador Aloun NdombetAssamba – Leadership Award, Dr. L’Antoinette Stines – Cultural Icon Award and Dr. Lilith Fuller (New York) – Community Impact Award, have also been named for special honours. Pinnacle Awards salute ‘trailblazing’ female leaders Professor Minerva Thame Cedella Marley Althea Laing Portia Simpson-Miller
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