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Health sectors across developed and developing countries have long struggled with making improvements to infant and maternal health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) for example, indicates that approximately 830 women die each day from preventable illnesses related to pregnancy and childbirth with 99 per cent of these being in developing countries.

Worldwide these two indices are very high. For many lower socio-economic groups the problem is access to health care services. 

The proposed National Identification System (NIDS) has been the source of contentious debate for the last few weeks.

Jamaica is actually late in the game in providing some sort of system of this type to ensure a proper database of its citizens, which will improve the country's ability to put in place effective structures and programmes that will adequately capture the needs of the population.

The United States, for example, can track and manage its welfare services through the social-security number issued to every citizen at birth and kept until death.

October was celebrated as breast cancer awareness month and it brought into focus the very long-standing and urgent matter of the effect of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on the Jamaican, Caribbean and world population.

Although most deaths each year are from these diseases, I do not get the feeling that people generally take the issue serious enough.

At a recent event, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton indicated that it will cost the country more than $70 billion in the next 15 years to treat persons with NCDs.

Health care costs have the capacity to render persons bankrupt and is an expense that Government and all of us will have an interest in keeping as low as possible.

The United States (US) is a great example of how high health care costs can have a negative effect on individuals and health seeking behaviour.

The recent devastating impact of natural disasters in the Caribbean and North America has underscored the dangers we face here in the region.

The region is no stranger to this as many of us has had to rebuild several times after a natural disaster.

In preparing for these disasters we usually think of the loss of our fixed assets such as cars, homes and other property, but we seldom give consideration to the possibility of the loss of important data.

Many born into a generation of rapidly changing technology are able to seamlessly adapt to the almost per-second changes.

But there are many among us who do not quite have it so easily. Technophobia - the fear of technology - is real and is oftentimes seen in people afraid of using new technology.

With the pace of change, technology can, indeed, be very daunting. However, with the increased use of technology across sectors and many companies going digital, it is clear that technology is here to stay.

Health is by far one of the most important assets we can have as individuals. If we do not have good health, we pretty much have nothing.

Mahatma Gandhi rightfully stated, "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."

The prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, and the effect they have had on the population not just in Jamaica but worldwide, signals to us that we need a revolution in health to arrest this problem.