Minister of Health: Ministry of Health’s Budget for New Fiscal Year Will Have to Include Funding to Assist K.H.M.H

Kevin Bernard

And as the Cabinet huddles over the next few weeks to finalize its National Budget draft, public health care is expected to be one of the top priority areas, as Minister of Health Ken Bernard alluded to.

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“I’m sure we will be getting an increase, to address those issues, to address K.H.M.H. I believe that we have to seriously, um, ensure that whatever funding is available is able to allow us to not have this type of short. But, let me go back to the fact that the shortages may not have been only because of a budget constraint issue. It was indeed a global issue caused by the pandemic. That cycle ended up affecting us in this latter part of the year. There will always be need for more finances. The inflation of prices and medication is also going up across the world and is not being sprayed by that we are going to be, have to face those. And so when we put forward our tender, I am pretty sure when we, when we get the results back from the costing that will come in, there will be possibly a need for us to go back to the House to seek additional funding. We are hoping we don’t need to do that, but this reason why we presented a real estate budget. I do understand that in meeting with the F.S. and, and the Ministry of Finance, that they were amenable to look at some increases for the Ministry of Health to help us on K.H.M.H. and to help us focus on the need of our, of our improvement of our supplies and so forth.”