Letter of the Day | The value of Jamaican life
Published:Thursday | May 16, 2024 | 12:08 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Jamaica, a developing nation for decades, now has numerous high-rise modern to luxury apartment complexes dotting the landscape. The value of these apartments range from a modest average J$40 million to north of US$1 million. According to one jis.gov online article, under half of the population (1.16 million) comprise the employed labour force, and the average salary (according to salarysurvey.com) is J$3.8 million or – US$25k per annum. Recently, some salaries for better-positioned Jamaicans increased north of 250 per cent. Many earn significantly more than this stated average and may be a reason for the skew.
What, then, can an average employed Jamaican afford to pay to save their life in a critical case? Is it a lack of priority that one does not have local or international insurance, or is it an inability to afford that care? US international insurance may range from US$500 to $8,000 annually, and the cost of air ambulance approximated to US$12000. Health economists, actuarial scientists, loved family members and friends will all have a different value for life. The important question is, how much do we as a people value it?
INCREASING NET WORTH
In one study from How Much Is a Human Life Worth? A Systematic Review – ScienceDirect, the median of the reported value of a statistical life, estimated in all sectors, was just over US$8 million for developed countries and approximately one-tenth of that value for developing countries ($858k). This value (statistical life) for developing countries is more than 100 times greater than the common annual salary in Jamaica (US$7k). We are worth more than we are given credit for. That ‘worth’ should be better translated to healthcare for a Jamaican (young and old) who, for lack of intensive care unit space, will die. That worth should be put into providing more sponsored posts for intensive care unit staff, repurposed space and equipment. The ‘can’ must push past the ‘cannot’. If investments can be greenlighted for luxury apartment homes, then projects aimed at improving the environment, increasing city-wide water storage and improving healthcare should all factor in to increasing the net worth of a Jamaican.
Where will this investment come from?
For starters, if our teachers and responsible parents are educating the nation’s future, then let’s start with education, while ensuring healthcare is properly addressed. Good health is great wealth, so let’s better support our farmers to efficiently feed our people locally produced food, cutting imports to reduce trade deficits. We are a strong people, and those tasked to secure us need to know that if their health fails, we have a system in place that will take care of them in critically ill conditions.
DR. K. SMITH