After an absence of three years, the New Jersey based Help Jamaica Medical Mission, is scheduled to return to Jamaica from the 6th to the 14th of September and will serve some seven communities in Kingston, St. Thomas, and St. Catherine.
President of the New Jersey-based Help Jamaica Medical Mission (HJMM), Dr Robert Clarke (right) welcomes the first passengers Mr. and Mrs. Henry Small as they board the boat 'Cornucopia Majesty' for the association's Black and White Cruise at the Perth Amboy port, New Jersey on June 24th (Photo by Derrick Scott)Founder and President of the Help Jamaica Medical Mission Dr. Robert Clarke said the organization which has been traveling to Jamaica since 2010 and has attended to some 46 thousand patients over the ten-year period.
Dr. Clarke said his team which consist of volunteer specialist doctors and nurses from the New Jersey and New York and Connecticut Tri-State areas, areas will be providing physical exams, health screening for illnesses such as STD's...diabetes...diseases of the prostate, HTN, sickle cell, some forms of cancer, mental health issues such as depression bipolar disorder and for various types of heart diseases.
Dr. Clarke, who is Jamaican born, is the medical director at the Newark, New Jersey-based silver Lake hospital, and also physician advisor at three other New Jersey-based hospitals, as well as attending physician at two nursing homes, in New Jersey. He also has private medical practice in East Orange Medical in New Jersey.
In giving an overview of the mission's performance at its annual Black and White Elegant Boat Ride aboard the 'Cornucopia Majesty' in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on June 24th. Dr. Clarke said, “We have been saving lives, making people see again and become healthier because of our yearly medical mission to Jamaica."
He pointed out that the mission has been providing free, quality healthcare services to those in dire need of these services and over the period has served thousands of Jamaicans.
He said the team of doctors, nurses and medical practitioners who make the trip each year to deliver their services free of cost, treating persons with eye disease, heart problems, diabetes, hyper-tension, and other illnesses.
Dr. Clarke who is also the immediate past president of the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations, NAJASO, estimates that over the period the New Jersey Medical Mission has spent some US. 1-3 million dollars in providing medical service to the underserved in Jamaica.
He said from its recent boat ride fundraiser on June 24, just over US$-77 thousand was raised which will go towards the medical mission to Jamaica in September.
The organization's health mission to Jamaica started after former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller met with the team while on a visit to the USA and she invited them to come to Jamaica to provide their services. The team has since been travelling to Jamaica and providing health services.
The Help Jamaica Medical Mission was founded by Dr. Robert Clarke with the assistance of Dr Rudolph Willis who came together to provide healthcare services to needy Jamaicans.
