Busy Signal Launches Helping Hands Foundation

Turf Prez Giving Back To The Hospital Where He Was Born

St. Ann’s Hospital in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica is giving thanks for a new initiative, spearheaded by none other than popular dancehall artist Busy Signal. The dancehall phenomenon will be launching the Busy 20/20 Helping Hands Foundation April 2. The charitable organization’s first order of busi is to help the hospital to fulfill its needs, which are plentiful, including implementation of vital X-ray/CAT scan equipment, which Busy describes as a device used “for detecting cancer.” The pricetag? J$12 million—or just over US$100,000.  Details After The Jump…(Via Jamaica Observer)

StAnnBayHospital

The outgoing artist known for Boomshots like “Watch Out For This (Bumaye)” and “Bedroom Bully” showed a more sensitive side with this initiative. “This is the hospital I was born in. The majority of people from St Ann are farmers and they don’t have the money fi go private hospital. So mi haffi help inna my way and give back.” Besides making donations himself via the foundation, Busy plans to organize benefit shows and reach out to the private sector.

This kind of work is vital for Jamaica, as research from the World Health Organization shows that there are a lot of challenges to Jamaica’s health system, where reduction in national budget and external aid has drastically impacted the health sector. To give some perspective, the USA spent $8,895 for each person in 2012—versus just $461 in Jamaica.

Busy Signal—who has a track record of charitable works, including funding scholarships and donating computers to schools—is not alone in his quest to help Jamaica’s healthcare disparities. Other artists have stepped up, notably the Shaggy and Friends Foundation, whose annual concert has raised millions. This help is a step forward, but not enough, as Busy suggests: “Government a government. We haffi help inna our way. Nobody is excluded from sickness.”

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