Guyana is actively taking steps to monitor the number of Surinamese that travel to Guyana to seek free medical attention at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Harmon, told reporters on Friday.
The disclosure made by the minister follows concerns raised by residents of Berbice that they are unable to access certain medical supplies at the institution.
Only recently, a team of officials from the National Assembly visited the New Amsterdam hospital where it was discovered that there is a shortage of drugs.
“What I found also in one of my outreach meetings that I went to Berbice was that there was a complaint made by some of the regional officials that we are having persons who are actually coming from Suriname and utilising our medical facilities in Berbice because the bulk of it is free. So you have people coming … a lot of traffic from Suriname, coming to New Amsterdam, Berbice to use the system,” said Harmon.
He told reporters at a post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency that efforts have been undertaken to ensure there is a “very clear record of this” so that the requisite steps can be taken to correct the situation.
“As far as I am aware there are specific shortages from time to time which the Ministry takes time to correct. The Minister of Public Health has actually taken steps to correct that situation,” the Cabinet Secretary added.
He stressed that the shortage of drugs at hospitals across the country is a matter which is being addressed by the Minister of Public Health and noted that in the case of the New Amsterdam Hospital, the situation is not new.
“…This was something the Government was aware of before and was taking steps to ensure that it was corrected so that the drug shortage at New Amsterdam is very specific. You may have a shortage of a particular type of drug but not a general shortage and therefore the Minister of Public Health is addressing that,” Minister Harmon clarified.
Last week, the Social Services Parliamentary Sectoral Committee visited the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, Regional Six, to examine the functions and management of the healthcare facility.
Members of the committee found that drug shortages at the health institution remain a sore issue and according to Director of Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens, the issue is as a result of the suppliers routinely delivering important and much needed drugs late.
Chairperson of the Social Services Committee, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, explained that the continued shortage forces the regional hospital to purchase drugs from the emergency funds but there still is not enough provision to meet the demand.
“There have been instances where drug shortages were raised by patients notably in chronic non- communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension, as well as other medication for thyroids and other areas. What we have noticed is that there seems to be some difficulty between the demand or supply and procurement and sometimes it is, that the hospital may have inadequate (amounts) to supply the outpatients; they just have for inpatients or they would not have received sufficient medication from MMU,” Dr Persaud said.
Dr. Persaud said too that the system of transferring drugs from the Materials Management Unit (MMU) to the health facility leaves loopholes for discrepancies, hence the shortages.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, said the Ministry is aware of these issues and is in the process of addressing them.
“The Ministry of (Public) Health is working to bridge the gap that exists in all essential areas. The Ministry was engaged with some of their international partners like the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)… we do have a problem with suppliers because they are saying suppliers don’t have the quantity or the name of the drug so we are engaged with our international partners to ensure that we have these drugs.”