Prior to COVID-19, during COVID-19 and even now, I have been deeply moved by the calibre of care we received in our public hospitals. When those personal encounters are placed alongside the testimonies of citizens across Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, a sobering truth emerges.

What we are witnessing is not the natural decline of our healthcare systems but the cumulative effect of years of structural neglect, policy drift, and institutional underinvestment.

The Caribbean’s healthcare systems are not failing. They are being failed.