By Dr. Karen Cummings
(Honourable Minister within the Ministry of Public Health)

WOMEN are extremely important. Women have an equal place in society and must be treated with the same respect and dignity that men receive. In addition to playing a very vital role in human progress, women have a significant place in contemporary society.

Traditionally, the role of women in society has been greatly overlooked, but today that role is being viewed from a different perspective. In the early days, and particularly because of the deeply patriarchal society that pervaded at the time, women were seen as wives and homemakers who were intended to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Most importantly, they were expected to remain silent. They were not allowed to vote or make any decisions. On the other hand, men worked so as to take care of their family financially, made all the decisions, and spoke on behalf of the women, often times without prior consultation.

However, in these contemporary times, women are empowered and emboldened to take revolutionary action that drives change within our society. Women are pursuing career paths beyond the traditional roles to which they were once confined. Women are now pushing against and widening the parameters which allow them to access meaningful employment in male-dominated fields, such as science and technology. Women have made vast improvements in their lifestyles in the past few decades. They are accessing educational opportunities that allow them to hold diverse positions in all spheres of life.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) speak to the internationally agreed upon goals to be achieved by 2030, by countries around the world through the work of their governments. Sustainable Development Goal number five states: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, while Sustainable Development Goal number four states: “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.” I am pleased to inform you that this APNU+AFC government remains steadfastly committed to the fulfilment of all the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, especially gender equality — equality in education and employment opportunities — women’s empowerment, and women’s human rights.

In Guyana, there are myriad social, economic, health, and cultural issues that affect the overall wellbeing of our women. Socially, our women suffer abuse and even death, are subjected to economic disparities, experience life-threatening health conditions, and exist in culturally restrictive conditions. Our government continues to find innovative ways to alleviate many of the social sufferings that our women face in a variety of ways.

Primarily, the government is focussed on improving the social protection of women and girls as well as the reduction of economic disparities by providing equal opportunities for training and employment.  Further, decreasing the incidence and prevalence of life-threatening health conditions is a priority that is currently being addressed.  In order to address the culturally restrictive conditions that hinder the advancement and empowerment of our women, the government proposes significant alleviation of this particular problem through strategically designed and implemented crucial interventions in collaboration with all key stakeholders.

This APNU-AFC government, through the Ministry of Public Health, has demonstrated its resolute commitment to improving the health of our women through the creation of the Women’s Health Department. This Department has carefully crafted an agenda that seeks to greatly improve the sexual and reproductive health of women as well as their overall health and well-being. The strategies that will achieve these noteworthy goals will include the sensitization of all key stakeholders to the importance of screening, early detection, and treatment of critical diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, as well as sexually transmitted diseases.

The development, implementation and evaluation of community-based health promotion programmes aimed to increase rates of healthy eating and exercise and increased knowledge on sexual and reproductive health among women remain a work in progress.

We must acknowledge that cancer is a debilitating disease that affects many persons in our society, especially women. The profile of cancers in Guyana between 2003 and 2012 highlighted that females had higher rates of cancers from an earlier age than males, beginning in the 15-39 year age group.  For that same period, there were 3,415 deaths, representing 52.4% of all cancers. Regrettably, 1,784 (52.2%) of those deaths were females. Among females, cancer of the cervix comprised the greatest percentage (22.2%). To address cervical cancer, the Ministry of Public Health is assiduously working on prevention strategies including VIA testing and Pap smear testing.

The vaccination of females aged 10-13 years of age with the HPV vaccine has been successfully launched and will contribute significantly to the development of immunity against the Human Papilloma Virus, the leading cause of cervical cancer. This immunity will auger well for the health of women in our society. Notably, vaccination of our girls will transmit immunity to the males.

Healthy families begin with the expert medical care of women. We at the Ministry of Public Health recognize that providing high-quality healthcare for women will have a positive and profound impact on future generations. Therefore, from a public health perspective, emphasis is made on prevention and wellness initiatives to protect and improve the health of all persons living in Guyana. Eating nutritious foods, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and reducing risky behaviours can help prevent many chronic diseases.

And because women represent the cornerstone of a family’s overall health, ensuring that they have access to the best quality public healthcare also leads to improved health for not only themselves but their children and families.

Let us continue to work towards ensuring our women are the healthiest in the Caribbean.