Dear Editor,

I WRITE in response to an outrageous article published in the Guyana Chronicle on 19 September, in which the Regional Health Officer declared: “No shortage of essential drugs in Region 5”.It is either that the Region 5 Regional Health Officer Dr. Steven Cheefoon is oblivious to the shortage of essential drugs at the Fort Wellington Hospital, or he is aware of it but choses instead to defend the Administration’s position of denial.

This Region 5 drug shortage was previously raised in Parliament by PPP/C Parliamentarian Dr. Frank Anthony, and was vehemently denied by Public Health Minister Dr. George Norton. I heard the same denial coming from an APNU+AFC councillor during the Regional Democratic Council’s (RDC) statutory meeting held last month. And again, the mantra is being repeated by Dr. Cheefoon at the September sitting of the RDC statutory meeting.

Editor, my personal experience contradicts what is being said by Region 5 Regional Health Officer Dr. Cheefoon. My wife suffers from asthma. She has a nebulizer and medication that she uses at home; but when it’s a serious attack, she goes to the Fort Wellington Hospital for treatment. During her nebulizer treatments at the hospital, over time, she is always given a face mask that had been sterilized after being used by other patients. When I first objected to the unsanitary use of a face mask that is designed for single-patient use, I was told that the hospital has a shortage of drugs and medical supplies.

Two days ago, I visited the Fort Wellington Hospital again because she had a serious attack of asthma. In the rush to get her to the hospital, we forgot to take along her own face mask, and again she was forced to use one that was sterilized after being used by other patients.

The doctor and nurses there did well to cope with the steady flow of patients. But then came another revelation that only one thermometer was available for use by both doctor and nurses. The doctor requested that a patient sit and wait on the bench to have his temperature taken because a nurse was taking the temperature of another patient in the examination room with the only thermometer that was available. After making some inquiries, I learnt just how frustrating it is for healthcare professionals to provide quality healthcare to patients when basis essential drugs and medical supplies are in short supply.

What percentage of the region’s healthcare budget has so far been spent to purchase drugs and medical supplies is a mystery, as the Ministry of Public Health has not been procuring these items through public tenders to compensate for demands in the sector nationwide; and, as such, the regions are suffering. But according to Dr. Steven Cheefoon, Region 5 RHO, systems have now been put in place to resolve the drug shortage,

“We have put an extra 1000 of every medication on the distribution shelf, to cater for the excess of patients with chronic illnesses referred to us by hospitals outside the region.”

However, it is very unlikely — and I find it hard to believe — that hospitals outside of the region would refer patients with chronic illnesses to either the Fort Wellington or the Mahaicony hospitals in Region 5, when both the Georgetown Hospital (Region 4) and the New Amsterdam Hospital (Region 6) are much better staffed and are more equipped to treat patients with chronic illnesses.

As a Member of Parliament, I get — all the time — complaints of shortages of essential drugs at the Fort Wellington Hospital. Some even complain about the lack of laboratory services, which may have been due to low voltage coming from GPL power and plaguing the hospital for some time.

But, thanks to the intervention of Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, GPL has recently installed a new transformer, and efforts are being made to secure a second one for the sole use of the hospital.

The APNU+AFC Administration needs to place much greater priority on the healthcare of our citizens. A brand new building to house a health centre was built by the PPP/C Administration at Plantation Experiment, on the West Coast of Berbice; but because of the 2015 general election, this building was never commissioned, and remains an empty shell, unstaffed and unequipped to this day. Perhaps RHO Dr. Cheefoon or Public Health Minister Dr. Norton can explain the reason why the APNU+AFC Administration is allowing this healthcare facility building to go to waste. The money being spent to secure an inappropriate and ridiculously expensive pharmaceutical storage bond from a campaign contributor could have made this facility functional for a lot less, extending critical healthcare services to the residents of Bath/Experiment communities. But then again, this would have been considered a PPP stronghold and not worthy of the investment.

Undoubtedly, more needs to be done to provide a better and more efficient healthcare service to our people. It is time for the sector to be fully computerized, to allow doctors to view patients’ medical histories from a computer screen or printout before treating those patients. This will save lives, reduce medical malpractice, improve efficiency, and significantly cut the waiting time for a patient to see a doctor. As of now, a doctor in a public hospital has little or no knowledge of a patient’s medical history before he/she is treated, and this can be dangerous to the successful diagnosis and treatment of our loved ones.

The status quo cannot be allowed to continue if real value is placed on the wellbeing of our citizenry.

Regards,
HARRY GILL, MP (PPP/C)