East La Penitence Health centre to become polyclinic
THE East La Penitence Health Centre is half-way towards being converted into a polyclinic by 2011, Minister with the portfolio, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy disclosed Tuesday.
Speaking at the fair staged there Tuesday for Vaccination Week, he said: “We need to convert this centre, by next year, into a full fledged polyclinic, similar to the Enmore polyclinic.”
Locally, a polyclinic offers an extended range of services as compared to a health centre but its capacity is less than that of a diagnostic centre.
A typical polyclinic houses general medical practitioners, such as doctors and nurses, to provide ambulatory and some acute care services but lacks the major surgical and pre and post operative care facilities commonly associated with hospitals.
The Health Minister acknowledged that there has been expansion of services at  East La Penitence Health Centre and said that will continue.
“Dentistry is the latest addition to the services,” he informed.
Ramsammy observed that such investments in infrastructure must be backed by the healthy practices for living.
He said the quintessential health messages surround healthy eating, which includes fruits and vegetables; physical exercise, a practice that is still not engaged on a large scale by Guyanese; no smoking and reduction of alcohol abuse.
Ramsammy stated that healthy practices have a ripple effect, in that they protect against chronic diseases and, therefore, enable people to live long and productive lives.
He also posited that the way garbage is handled contributes to ill health amongst Guyanese people.
“The way we take care of garbage in and around our homes contributes to us getting sick. That is how we get dengue; that is how we get leptospirosis and that is how we get other diseases. We need to ensure that we all play our part in creating a cleaner and healthier Guyana,” Ramsammy said.
He advocated that long, productive and healthy lives can be achieved through partnerships between the Guyanese people and the heath sector.