The Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with the Global Fund, is expected to sign an agreement for approximately US$3M to enhance the fight against Tuberculosis (TB) in Guyana. The new agreement will focus on increasing diagnostic capacity and introduce drug sensitivity testing at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory.
The MOH is developing a comprehensive laboratory capacity for TB detection at all levels, as the Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) TB is on the rise in most countries and Guyana must prepare itself for the emergence of MDR, according to a press release from the MOH.
The ministry’s plan is to refurbish the old building in which the National TB Programme Unit is currently housed and to establish an in-patient facility by 2011 that will be dedicated to managing tuberculosis cases. The facility will allow for the institutional management of patients who, for various reasons, do not adhere to the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course Strategy (DOTS) programme.
The in-patient facility will contribute to the reduction of transmission of tuberculosis in the community at large.
The MOH noted that with the limited capacity of the current infectious disease ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital , the facility will allow separation of infectious TB cases from patients with other infectious diseases, thereby reducing the threat of cross-transmission of TB.
In addition, the MOH is working closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the prison authority to improve case detection and manage prisoners with TB.
Government commissioned the New Georgetown Chest Clinic building in March this year, through financial support from the Global Fund.
Since 2005, the Government and the Ministry of Health, with assistance from the Global Fund, have been enhancing the fight against TB. This subsequently led to the expansion of the National TB Programme Unit in 2007, which then expanded the DOTS programme, allowing citizens in all regions to access free TB services at their regional hospital.
This strategy had led to the increased capacity to detect, diagnose and treat persons, thus slowing down the progression of a possible TB epidemic. (GINA)