AIMING to gain an updated overview of the situation in the region with the Zika virus, the Pan-American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) has organised a “Management System Technical Meeting”.According to a release from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the objectives of the meeting are to present an updated overview of the situation in the Region, to discuss protocols for clinical care and to analyse the challenges in preparations of the health services in the response to the outbreak of the Zika virus.

The meeting which started yesterday in Bridgetown, Barbados, will culminate today.

GPHC staffers, Dr Ahmad Rafi Rozan, Obstetrics Specialist and Gynecologist and Dr Ulanda Haynes, Resident in Pediatrics are currently representing Guyana as members of the discussion panel.

Dr Rozan is a specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics, spanning the areas of antenatal and perinatal care, with the interest of decreasing maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity in order to improve quality of life.

Dr Haynes worked as a General Medical Officer in the Department of Pediatrics at the GPHC since 2013, and is currently a Senior Resident – Pediatrics attached to the department.

The geographical distribution of Zika virus has been steadily increasing since it was first detected in the Americas and in Brazil in May 2015.

Since then a total of 35 countries and territories have reported autochthonous (locally transmitted, mosquito-borne) transmission of the Zika virus in the Americas. Several countries have reported cases of newborns with microcephaly and other conditions associated to Zika virus infection.

Meanwhile, PAHO has coordinated a process for developing harmonised recommendations on clinical care for pregnant women and newborns.