…to improve detecting causes of death, classification of diseases
GUYANA is aiming to improve its methods of detecting and verifying causes of death and classification of diseases to standardise records at international levels.

This initiative will see a number of workshops hosted by the Heath Ministry, in collaboration with the Caribbean Epidemiology centre (CAREC), which will seek to educate health workers more on the issue of morbidity, among other issues.
The epidemiology centre will be working closely with the ministry to improve the health status of Guyanese by advancing the capability of the country through technical cooperation, services, training and research.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy noted that the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding has been around for decades, and Guyana is one of the countries that introduced the coding.

He pointed out that although Guyana has been efficient in the uses and converting of the ICD 10, there is still the need for improvement.

“The ministry is working to implement strategies that will assist in verifying information as it relates to cause of death within some 6 to 12 months, as opposed to the regular 3 year process.
This, he noted is, another critical health strategy that will see Guyana moving to higher heights.

The training sessions started yesterday at Cara Lodge, and will run until Friday.
The ICD is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, many health management purposes, and clinical use.
These include the analysis of the general health situation of population groups, and monitoring of the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems in relation to other variables, such as the characteristics and circumstances of the individuals affected, reimbursement, resource allocation, quality and guidelines.
It is used to classify diseases and other health problems recorded on many types of health and vital records, including death certificates and health records.
In addition to enabling the storage and retrieval of diagnostic information for clinical, epidemiological and quality purposes, these records also provide the basis for the compilation of national mortality and morbidity statistics by WHO member states.
ICD-10 was endorsed by the 43rd World Health Assembly in May, 1990, and came into use in WHO member states as from 1994.