THE fifth Joint Donors Meeting yesterday at Cara Lodge, brought into focus Guyana’s health supply chain and the ministry stressed that the joint partnership is building a world-class supply chain system. “The joint partnership is building a world-class supply chain system because we all recognize the need to provide universal access to medicines and medical supplies,” the ministry contends.
The partners include the Global Fund and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), among others.
The focus at this year’s meeting comes after the construction of a state-of-the-art warehouse in Diamond.
The multi-million US dollar initiative is a partnership between the Guyana Government, the US Government through PEPFAR, Global Fund, the World Bank and the IDB.
The partnership is not restricted to the construction of the warehouse, but is a larger partnership to build a complete, world-class supply chain – a larger partnership including the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The ministry notes that it is critical to advance health system strengthening and said that Guyana’s health supply chain in time hopes to boast strong management systems of international level, effective procurement procedures, safe storage and optimal distribution, and accountability to rank as a world class supply chain system which guarantees every essential medicine and supply, every time to everyone, everywhere in Guyana.

The ministry contends that in promoting global equity, there needs to be a commitment to a standard of living that is recognized as a “minimum standard” for human beings – a goal which can only be made possible on the strength of partnerships.

Partnership Pillar
“Our partnerships have borne dramatic results, results that are leading to improved lives.”
The ministry is after a new paradigm where resources are pooled within a partnership with the country as the one national coordinator of a national health programme with a single monitoring and evaluation mechanism.”
According to the ministry, much success has come from building on a foundation where a primary pillar is partnerships.
The ministry observes that through robust partnership a number of “real achievements” have been made in Guyana, including:
* continuously publishing annual updated versions of the Essential Medicine List (EML) and Medical Supplies List;
* introduction of a value-for-money examination of procurement and use of medicines in the public health sector;
* supplying essential medicines at a rate greater than 80 per cent consistently in the last three years;
* the development of a Standard Treatment Guidelines for the Primary health care system that is meant to optimise the use of medicines in the public health sector; and
* development of a National Medicine Policy that includes the following: a Donation Policy, the elimination of all taxes on essential medicines, requirements for regular updating of the EML, the adoption of a generic substitution policy, and the procurement of quality, affordable medicines, among many others.
This year, through the National Budget, Guyana will spend about $US26 per capita on medicines and supplies. This expenditure will be enhanced through spending for medicines and supplies from the Global Fund, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through this partnership, Guyana is expected to spend about $US36 per capita on medicines and supplies.
European Union Ambassador Geert Heikens was among other partners who made remarks and he stressed that donor coordination is key to making significant strides in the health sector.