Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 01, 2018 News
A Tuberculosis [TB] Step Down Care Unit at the West Demerara Regional Hospital will soon become operational. The facility, according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, is one designed to offer superior care to patients who have been diagnosed with TB, and are in need of additional care to guarantee full recovery from the contagious and potentially devastating disease.
TB is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB is said to spread through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or even talks.
Although Guyana has been able to contain the spread of TB, it continues to be faced with this challenge, given the fact that persons co-infected with TB and the human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] could present a major public threat.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the co-epidemic of TB and HIV is one of the major global health challenges at the present time. According to a WHO report, of the 9.2 million new cases of TB in 2006, 7.7 percent were HIV-infected.
This publication understands that although the Region Three facility was commissioned in 2016, it was inoperable due to the lack of furnishing.
The West Demerara Regional Hospital back in the day was the designated centre for TB treatment in Guyana. Back then, it was referred to as the Best Hospital. With a chest clinic in place, it is expected that the facility will not only serve to improve health care in the Region, but it will also ease the burden off of the national referral hospital, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC].
The Step-Down Care Facility, among other things, is expected to offer an in-patient unit for persons with serious cases of TB that may require greater attention.
Speaking on the need for furnishing of the facility, Minister Cummings said, once these are in place, the facility will be officially opened and commence offering the proposed services to patients. This development is likely to shortly become a reality, since the Ministry was just last week the recipient of a quantity of supplies from Food for the Poor [Guyana] Inc. [FFTP], a Non-Governmental Organisation [NGO].
“The Ministry of Public Health is very grateful to the Management and staff of Food for the Poor Inc. for supplying some hospital beds and vital signs monitors that would allow the healthcare professionals to offer efficient and effective care to the patients who will be treated at this facility [the TB Unit],” the Minister informed.
Based on the United Nations [UN] Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] number three, all countries are expected to ensure their citizens enjoy healthy lives and promote well-being for all persons at all ages.
According to information issued by the UN, too, since 2000, impressive advancements have been made on many health fronts. However, to meet the SDG’s health targets by 2030, progress must be accelerated, in particular in regions with the highest burden of disease.
In recognition of the tall task ahead, the Public Health Ministry has been making ardent strides to advance its efforts at safeguarding the well-being of its people.
But the Ministry has not been working in isolation. In fact, in addition to support from various international partners, support has been continually forthcoming from FFTP.
In was in this regard that the charitable organisation on Wednesday donated a quantity of medical equipment and supplies that will help the public health sector meet the country’s UN obligations.
The donation, including items such as baby bassinets, incubators, recliner chairs, infant warmers, vital sign monitors and patient chairs, hospital beds and mattresses, along with a number of pallets of medical supplies, are intended for the West Demerara Chest Clinic in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and the Port Mourant Maternity Hospital in Region Six, (East Berbice /Corentyne).
Speaking at a simple handing over ceremony on Wednesday at the FFTP Bond in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Chief Executive Officer [CEO], Mr. Kent Vincent, pledged the organisation’s continued support for the local public health sector.
“Food For the Poor as you know is interested in the health of the country, and so every month we give medical items, pharmaceuticals and other medical equipment to the hospitals through the Ministry of Public Health. Today, we are very happy to be able to donate these things to the Ministry.”
Vincent stated that the medical equipment and supplies, costing millions of dollars, were donated by a number of foreign-based organisations.
Other health officials present at the handing over ceremony, along with Minister Cummings, were: Dr. Ravendra Dudhnath, Regional Health Officer, Region Three; Jevon Stephens, Director, Regional Health Services, Region Six; Dr. Joanne Simpson, Medical Doctor, National TB Programme; Dr. Danelle Drepaul, District Health Officer, Region Four; Denroy Tudor, Coordinator- International Desk and Alex Foster, Focal Point Coordinator/Advisor to the Senior Minister, both of the Ministry of Public Health, Georgetown.
According to Minister Cummings, the items donated will aid the Ministry in its efforts to conform to the UN SDG number three by ensuring that efficient and effective high-quality health care services are affordable and accessible to all Guyanese.
“Today, we are here to receive, once again, a very timely and much-appreciated donation of crucial items to two of our major hospitals that serve large sections of our population…,” the Minister said.
The supplies that will be sent to the Port Mourant Hospital will be used to improve the care offered to the neonates who will be treated at that facility.
FFTP is one of the largest international relief and development organisations in the United States of America. Its Guyana arm was established on June 3, 1991 and has quickly grown to become one of the largest existing NGOs in the country.
This has been evident by its construction of over 3,400 housing units, both in the coastland and hinterland areas of Guyana, and its donation of in excess of 159 containers of food, medical supplies, educational supplies, and sporting equipment. The NGO has also established the Angels of Hope Programme, that attends to approximately 244 children in 12 orphanages, and a Wheelchair Programme that has distributed more than 550 wheelchairs to the needy of Guyana.
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