THERE is no question that the government achieved major developmental progress during its tenure in office. AFC presidential hopeful, Khemraj Ramjattan acknowledged this when he stood before the National Assembly to deliver his address. Over the current administration’s tenure, this country has seen widespread infrastructural developments nationwide. From drainage and irrigation, to education, to health, the government works strategically to effectively enhance the country’s social and economic portfolios.
Particularly for the health sector, we have seen a string of new, more improved hospitals and
health facilities being erected across the country.
The 2011 budget awarded $14 billion to the health sector. This figure increased from the $13.3 billion given in 2010 and the $12.8 billion expanded in the sector in 2009 to fund the public healthcare system, as part of the national health strategy 2008/2012. Through the National Health Strategy, the government plans to make equitably accessible to all Guyanese, high-quality, consumer-friendly health services, covering all aspects of healthcare, both privately and publicly provided. Since the plan was instituted, the new Linden Hospital Complex was completed, and the Mabaruma and Lethem Hospitals, and the National Ophthalmology Hospital at Port Mourant are now  realities. The National Ophthalmology Hospital conducted in excess of 1,100 eye surgeries in 2009.
You see, the government is not only concerned with erecting new modern buildings, where the country’s health is concerned, the government takes pride in the more tangible representations of health developments that are attested to by the overall health of the population. According to the Ministry of Health’s Statistical Bulletin 2008, for the year 2008, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 14; the under-five mortality rate per 1,000 was 17.3; and the post-natal mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 4.5. There were also improvements in the water source, as the percentage of the population with access to water was very high at 94%.
As Ramjattan reminds us, ignoring or denying these developments would be a misrepresentation of facts, as they pertain to Guyana’s true development.