NO one would deny that there is room for the improvement of our public healthcare system, but equally true is the fact that there can be no denial that it has been constantly improving, with every aspect having been upgraded, including infrastructure, number and training of medical personnel, specialist services, availability of medical supplies, decentalisation etc.
It will be recalled that our first heart surgery and kidney transplant were done just a few years ago. Ever since this government assumed office there has been hardly a year which passes without some improvement in the healthcare system, which no doubt has been boosted with the support from Cuba through the scholarship programme and deployment of its medical brigade here.
We now boast a state-of-the-art Ophthalmology Centre, Cancer and Heart Institutes, brand-new hospitals at Lethem, Linden and New Amsterdam, and Diagnostic Centres in several regions.
One of the latest additions to the public healthcare system is the Blood bank in Region 6, which was recently commissioned by Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who described it appropriately as a “red letter” day for the county of Berbice.
The facility, situated at the northern end of the New Amsterdam Hospital Complex, had been in operation since July 2010, accumulating 863 units of blood, surpassing the ministry’s target during that year.
Addressing the gathering at the midday ceremony attended by various categories of health workers, the Minister of Health was quick to dispel accusations of critics who claimed that there is not enough blood to meet the demands locally.
For the current year 702 of the targeted 1,000 units have since been collected.
Addressing the gathering at the midday ceremony attended by various categories of health workers, the Minister of Health was quick to dispel critics who claimed there is not enough blood to meet the demands locally.
The importance of a blood bank cannot be over-emphasised, as it is an absolutely necessary institution if a high level of medical service is to be offered; and the statistics relating to the performance of the New Amsterdam Hospital as result of the blood bank tells the story.
During that period (2000), life-saving surgeries were postponed if relatives were unable to give the required blood.
According to him, currently, the intake is 9,000 units, which represents between 60 and 75 percent of the 12,000 needed for surgeries.
“The surgical capacity has improved four to five times more. In addition, delivering a baby by ‘C’ section has increased to 12 percent. The threshold for ordering blood was very high, as doctors waited until there was a life and death situation. Now we are using the blood to prevent a life and death situation, as we pre-empt that most of the time. We have moved, in a decade, from meeting a seven percent to between 60 and 75 percent of the demand. When compared with developing countries, we are in the top echelon, Dr. Ramsammy revealed.
However, he observed that there is a need for more blood donors and is making an appeal to the members of the public to come forward and donate blood. This is a very critical because availability of blood at times could determine life or death.
What is encouraging, though, is the fact that we have moved from meeting a seven percent to between 60 and 75 percent of the demand. It is hoped therefore that as citizens increasingly come forward as blood donors we will eventually meet a 100% demand.