The book, “The Case for Selective Fees in Health Care” is being launched on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 8:30 am at the Alhambra Inn. The guest speaker will be Dr. Omar Davies, Opposition Spokesperson on Finance. The book is authoured by UWI academics: Professor Wilma Bailey, Dr. Georgiana Gordon-Strachan, Dr. Aldrie Henry-Lee and Dr. Dillion Alleyne, Senior Health Economist, Bahamian Government, Dr. Stanley Lalta and Jasper Barnett, Health Economist, Ministry of Health, Jamaica.
 
The project on which this book is based was designed to provide evidence that could inform policy on user fees for health services. Clients seeking specific preventive services in urban and rural areas were followed for a period of eighteen months, and their health-seeking behaviour and strategies employed to cope with health-related costs monitored.  Findings suggested that the health of the elderly with chronic complaints was being compromised, and suggestions were made for the removal of fees from this group as well as subsidies to meet the cost of transportation in rural areas. This book is written in the hope that it would inform the actions of any administration and explore issues related to user fees in the health sector in Jamaica.