NATIONAL AGGRESSIVE POSTURE
– against diseases brought on by flooding
THE Health Ministry has announced that it is taking an accelerated approach in responding to illnesses that can be derived from flooding. This is in light of the recently changed weather pattern, which has resulted in continuous rainfall and flooding in several areas across the country.
Hospitals have been equipped with the necessary medication, and treatment is in place for all water-borne infections and diseases that could pose  major threats to the health of the country’s citizens.
Yesterday the Health Ministry hosted a media briefing to inform the public of these new interventions, and to urge persons to visit their hospitals and health centres if any sicknesses persist.
According to Government Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, the Health Ministry is ‘on top’ of the situation, and works are being pursued aggressively.
He said the Agriculture Ministry has given assurance that every effort is being made to ensure that the drainage situation countrywide is under control, so as to reduce flooding in the different regions.
“We have already had some areas — particularly in Region 6, and even here in Georgetown — that have been under water. The good news from the Ministry of Agriculture is that there have been improvements in drainage, and the accumulation has not been so extensive.” Nevertheless, Dr. Persaud said, since Guyana is below sea level, flooding will be an issue regardless, and the challenge of maintaining the people’s health exists.
“We know that the coast of Guyana is low-lying and most places where the populations are heaviest are below sea level. So the challenges exist with regard to health in cases like these. When there are situations like these, there are certain health challenges that emerge.”
In times like these, the CMO said, it is the responsibility of the Health Ministry to react in a timely manner. Works should also be conducted in a proactive manner, since this is the only way to tackle the crisis for it to be successful.
“We would like to respond to these in a timely manner, first of all by improving the public awareness of these risks, and then there (are) steps people can take in event of such risks. So we are basically putting the health system on high alert to respond to such risk.”
Persaud assured that works have commenced to ensure that daily information is generated by the various health facilities. The focus will be particularly on skin infections, respiratory infections, and water-borne diseases.
“We have commenced more active screening for persons who have persistent fevers, especially since the outbreak of leptospirosis in 2005; and that threat never left Guyana. We have had reported cases of this along the coastal areas. So it’s a disease that remains in an endemic state, and we don’t want a similar situation to occur.”
Dr Persaud said the objective at this time is to keep the public informed about the measures that have been put in place, and the awareness programmes have been running on the radio stations and television stations across the country.
“With this, we can reduce that threat wherever possible, and provide whatever medical care is needed to people who are affected by these and other conditions.”
Dr. Narine Singh, Officer in Charge of Regional Health Services, said that medical supplies have already been dispatched to all the administrative regions to ensure that there is an adequate supply for the worst-case scenarios.
“What we have been doing at the level of the regional health services is ensuring that these areas have adequate medical supplies to cater for the unexpected. So we have already sent our flood kits, a package with medical supplies, to boost their supplies in the regions.”
Dr. Singh said that hospital staffers have been alerted to keep tabs on the amount of persons coming in for treatment of diarrhoea and other illnesses spawned from unclean water.
“The health workers have been alerted to look out for these cases, and to check to see if there are any increases in these areas in light of this flood. So we are on top of the situation so far, and we are hoping that (there wouldn’t be) any outbreaks. We are preparing for the worst-case scenario, however.”
Additionally, Doctor Marcia Paltoo, another representative from the Ministry of Health, is asking that citizens, especially parents, be more aware of their children’s health, in light of the recent flooding situation.
“As we know, during the flood periods, a lot of the illnesses are water-borne. So we want to ensure that as much of the information gets out to the public. For adults, we may know the dangers; but for young children, water can be fun for them, they don’t understand and recognize the danger in that. So we depend on the parents to educate children on the dangers, and how to protect (themselves).”
Presently, there are no reported cases of an increase in diarrhoea, or other outbreaks of diseases due to the flooding situation.