– Epidemiology aids recognition of health problems and guides responses, Ramsammy
THE completion of a six-month Basic Epidemiology Course at the University of Guyana (UG), last week, saw the addition of 30 public health professionals to a national epidemiology team, which, according to Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, will strengthen local health systems.
The continuing professional development course was rolled out in partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Centre for Disease and Control (CDC).
Ramsammy contends that those trained will work to improve the health sector’s response to public health problems – another move to improve the quality of health care delivered to the Guyanese people.
Epidemiology is the study of health-event patterns in a society. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for disease and determining optimal treatment approaches to clinical practice and for preventive medicine.
“Epidemiology is the most important part of the health system because once we recognise where the problems are, we can respond to them. With a good epidemiology team we will have better surveillance,” Ramsammy said.

Stronger Unit

The Health Minister acknowledged that the Epidemiology Unit in the past has been a weak link in the health system.
He pointed out that because the unit was weak, there was no proper epidemiological data to indicate how much of a problem HIV/AIDS was in the 1980’s, and so it was only until the 1990’s that proper response programmes were put in place.
According to him, each trained person will return to his or her region, thereby ensuring that each region has epidemiology officers limiting dependence on the central ministry.
In that way, Ramsammy said, each region will possess the specialised skill and together, as a team, will be involved in work to improve the epidemiological data Guyana collects and, by extension, enhance surveillance.
He said, “With a good epidemiology unit we will now be better able to roll out the appropriate response programmes…we will have a national team working together.”
The minister explained that in the case of H1N1, epidemiological data assisted Guyana’s response to the disease.
“For people with the H1N1 virus, they needed an expensive medication, Tamiflu, and what the epidemiological data did for us was provide crucial information so we knew when to stock up on Tamiflu. If you bought it too early, it would expire….epidemiological data is crucial for the sector,” Ramsammy said.
Pointing to a more common health problem, diabetes, the minister stated that with the relative epidemiological data, the health sector was better equipped with the knowledge that a foot care programme was needed across the country.
“What we needed to know was whether to have foot care programmes at the primary level or at the tertiary level, and with the relevant epidemiological data, we found that foot care was a problem that needed a response at the primary level of health care,” Ramsammy said.
Another example he cited, was the problem of chagas, a very serious disease that is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector.
Ramsammy said, “We are stopping chagas by deciding to invest in screening…epidemiology is a very important part of the work we do.”
The minister maintained that the Basic Epidemiology Course is a quintessential tool to improving the quality of health care that Guyanese need.
Epidemiologist with PAHO, Dr. Zoila Fletcher Payton, contends that the epidemiology training is a must, and better positions health sectors to respond to public heath scourges and reduce their burden on society.
The newly trained health professionals agreed that the study of epidemiology is an important science.