OCTOBER is breast cancer awareness month. In honor of this, trees, the age old symbol of life, have been covered with that pink flag to remind the world that breast cancer is still a threat to life everywhere. The symbolism of tying those flags around trees is awe-inspiring. Not only is it representative of life being suffocated by breast cancer, but is also tells the world that we are aware of this disease, that like many others, threatens the precious gift of life, and that we are working for a brighter tomorrow; a tomorrow for which everything humanly possible to find a cure for breast cancer is being done. It tells the world that our health is our greatest asset, and as such, must be protected. The following data was taken from the 2010 Budget.
During this month of breast cancer awareness, it is note-worthy to highlight the contributions made by government towards developing our local health sector. The health of all Guyanese is important, and rest on the hearts and minds of the government.
The greatest resource of any country is its human resource. To ensure and protect the health of this nation, the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Health, places significant interests and resources toward developing and modernizing hospitals and health care facilities, and in ensuring that nurses are properly trained.
The 2009 budget allowed for G$12.8B to be expended in the health sector. G$1.5B was spent in 2009 on construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of health facilities. G$502M of this was spent on the completion of the state of the art facility at the new Linden Hospital Complex, which was opened to the public in December of last year.
Developments were also made to the Mabaruma and Lethem hospitals and the National Ophthalmology Hospital at Port Mourant last year. The National Ophthalmology Hospital has since facilitated the completion of more than 1,100 eye surgeries, and today the most modern of its kind in the Caribbean.
The Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre was expanded and the National Psychiatric Hospital was refurbished. Mental health programmes were further developed and expanded in 2009. Consequently, Psychiatric clinics are now being held in Linden, Parika, Skeldon and Suddie, in addition to the GPHC and the National Psychiatric Hospital.
Significant progress has been made in the fight against other communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and over G$400M was spent on procuring supplies of Diabetic medicines.
Breast cancer, like many other diseases, threatens the people’s health. Like HIV, it does not discriminate. Regardless of race or creed, gender, nationality or religion, without proper health facilities, we are predisposed to opportunistic diseases. Improvements made to the health sector are crucial for making us less susceptible to these diseases, and ultimately, improving our standard of living.