…down from 295 in 2014

WHILE the nation’s infant mortality rate has been declining over the years, the Ministry of Public Health is continuously working to slash the figure to zero.

This is according to Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence who was at the time responding to a question posed by Opposition Member of Parliament, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, in the National Assembly Thursday afternoon.

Dr. Persaud queried the measures being put in place to reduce deaths at the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
She also enquired how many deaths have been recorded at the unit for the period June 1, 2017 to June 2018, and whether the ministry or the GPHC investigated the cause of the increase in the number of deaths. Dr Persaud also enquired about the measures being put in place to correct the situation.

Lawrence told the National Assembly that while Guyana has signed onto the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) and while the government is working towards complying with the third goal, the onus is on the APNU+AFC administration to ensure that the necessary services are provided to the population at each level of the health sector.
She said the issue has been examined over the past three years and according to her, the government has invested “a lot of money into this particular department.”
She said for the period June 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, there was no increase in deaths and the statistics indicate that there were 1,155 admissions.

She said the mortality rate has been declining and government is working to put measures in place to ensure that the number can be broken down to zero.
The GPHC, in a release Thursday evening, said during the period 2010 to 2017, the total number of deaths at the NICU has been declining, except for 2014 when a high rate (295 deaths were recorded) that year.

STEADY DECLINE
The release noted that in 2015, there were 232 deaths; in 2016, 104 and 101 in 2017. The hospital also noted that between January and June 2018, there were far less than 119 deaths, contrary to Opposition claims.

For the period January to April 2018, there were 32 deaths. In June, she noted there were only three deaths and according to her, a committee is in place to review all deaths and when an investigation is warranted, it will be undertaken; however, this was not the case in recent months. Additionally, GPHC says it is home to the only Level 3 NICU in Guyana. This means that it is the only public hospital that is capable of providing a neonate with invasive breathing support. “Therefore GPHC receives the sickest and most high risk neonates from both the public and private medical institutions, countrywide. GPHC has capacity to simultaneously support 18 babies in our NICU. However, because sick babies arrive every day, the admission numbers trend over this frequently,” the hospital said in its release. According to GPHC, it provides care to all babies and does not turn away any sick baby, while reiterating that the life of every baby and every patient in its care is important.

Meanwhile, Lawrence said investigations into neonatal deaths follow a process. She said each death is reported and a report is prepared and reviewed by the Child Mortality Committee of the ministry which comprises not only persons from the public health sector but those from the private sector. She said if the report shows any discrepancies, then investigations are undertaken.

She said for the period mentioned, no special investigations were launched as there was no increase in the numbers during the period.

As a preventative measure, Minister Lawrence said the GPHC employs practices routinely to prevent mortality, including the NICU being cleaned thoroughly and sterilised. She said quality improvement also plays a role in ensuring that the unit is up to standard. In 2017, the reconstitution of the Child Mobility and Mortality Committee was undertaken to review all child deaths, another measure which has been put in place to stymie the occurrence.
The UN’s SDG 3 speaks to ensuring healthy lives and the promotion of the well being of all at all ages. The goals within the goal speaks to reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by the year 2030.

Also, it speaks to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to as low as 12 per 1000 live births and under five mortality to as low as 25 per 1000 live births by the year 2030.