Senator Jonathan Joseph

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United Progressive Party (UPP) Senator Jonathan Joseph has released a statement calling for the immediate firing of Antigua and Barbuda’s Health Minister, Sir Molwyn Joseph.

Joseph believes that the Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, should replace Sir Molwyn with a health minister who is willing to take the necessary steps to address the numerous issues plaguing the country’s healthcare system.

According to Joseph, getting rid of Sir Molwyn is necessary to sanitize Antigua and Barbuda’s healthcare system.

He accuses the health minister of unprecedented incompetence, suffocating micromanagement, and callous disregard for the recommendations made by highly trained technicians within the public service.

Joseph argues that the time has come to allow the experts to do their work to get health care back on track. Joseph’s press statement outlines several factors that support his call for Sir Molwyn’s dismissal.

These include issues affecting the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center, such as the lack of basic supplies and medications, a non-functioning MRI machine, and an outdated CT scan.

Additionally, patients requiring ultrasound investigations are subjected to extremely long wait times which could not be verified.

The laboratory is also consistently short of reagents for routine blood work (like PSA and thyroid function testing), forcing patients to go to private labs and pay substantial sums of money out-of-pocket.

These sums can often exceed one-third of a person’s monthly salary. Joseph also notes that the Clare Hall & All Saints clinics are in a state of major disrepair, with no dates for reopening.

The clinics have been consistently neglected and left short of supplies, compromising the quality of the primary healthcare system on which the country’s most vulnerable citizens depend.

The senator believes that ultimately, all of these health failures are the responsibility of Gaston Browne.

He argues that the Prime Minister allowed Sir Molwyn to fail with impunity while the population suffered. Joseph believes that the Prime Minister must act swiftly to replace Sir Molwyn in the public interest and ignore any concerns about political optics or his personal pride.