Dr Shane Alexis believes the Government should spend at least three times its current budget on health care.

Dr Alexis, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica, made the suggestion amid the spread of the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and possible entry of the deadly Ebola virus.

“For the purposes of reporting I have no issue saying we should triple it or quadruple it, because we already have enough sick people,” Dr Alexis said in response to a query at the Private Sector Organsiation of Jamaica (PSOJ) President’s Forum on Tuesday.

“The more money we have, the better care we can have for everybody. However, it’s not just a one-off injection; it has to be a sustained development.

“It will take time, but if we can set our sights on a clear programme and objective over a 10-year period, I think many of us would feel a lot more at ease.”

The global benchmark for health care spending hovers at about 10 per cent of gross domestic product, he said. This would result in the island increasing its spend from $32 billion to $50 billion.

“We need to look at 10 per cent of GDP, but ultimately I wouldn’t want to settle on a dollar figure, but a system rather than just a dollar figure,” he explained.

Alexis acknowledged the fiscal constraints under which the Government must operate because of International Monetary Fund conditionalities, but indicated that “creative minds can find ways to fund the sector”. Otherwise, the cost to citizens and the economy in treating Ebola and other diseases would pose an incredible strain on an already inadequate health system.

“We want to evolve the conversation into something broader. How do we sustain the health system that can withstand threats, whether it’s Ebola, CHIKV, hypertension, cancer, HIV, and the list goes on,” he reasoned in his address at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

“I am still concerned about the critical structures that are not in place, such as border protection and community surveillance,” Dr Alexis said.

The current vigilance at the island’s air and sea ports, he said, must be “sustained” in order to prevent visitors with Ebola entering a year from now to attend music festivals.

Last month, the PSOJ reasoned that CHIKV cost the nation some $6 billion in 13 million lost work hours.