THE Health Ministry has been emphasising its thrust to ensure health care professionals upgrade their capacity within their respective disciplines; and in this regard, two on-line programmes were made available by the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) in which even local professionals participated.

Among those persons who completed the Development for the Renewal of Primary Health Care course are Tabitha Mallampati, Melissa R. Ramdeen, Lois Stephanas, Owen John and Dr. Narine Singh.
Doctors Emmanuel Cummings and Vishwa Mahadeo completed the Leaders in International Health Programme.
The participants noted that while the courses were challenging, they received a new perspective of the primary health care system, and apart from that, they realised that the Guyanese health system is similar to that of many other countries.
Wednesday, PAHO/WHO’s Brickdam office, a presentation ceremony for the above listed participants of its Virtual Campus for Public Health Online Courses was held.
Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, indicated that these programmes widen interest and understanding in matters beyond bodily health, and at the same time, reiterates the Health Ministry’s continuing education drive.
Minister Ramsaran pointed out that currently a big push is being made for the use of virtual libraries at the Georgetown and Charles Roza schools of nursing, which entails dismantling of libraries and transforming them into resource centres. Some of the existing books at the Georgetown Nursing School are over 30 years old.
The minister indicated that there will be criticisms as to why the existing books are aged; he however explained that virtual learning is being encouraged, since there is more access to technology. PAHO has given support in this regard by providing computers and access to online journals to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s library.
Minister Ramsaran noted that all the computers in the GPHC library are fully operational and the health ministry will be installing additional systems. Students will also be able to access the internet by via hot spots.
Additionally, the GPHC’s medical science library has been instructed to extend its opening hours to 01:00hr instead of 23:00hrs to allow longer access to the available resources.
PAHO/WHO Country Representative, Dr. Beverley Barnett, in her remarks, emphasised that primary health care is very critical for effective health services and systems. It no longer encapsulates the notion of just including services offered at health centres, but encompasses the provision of basic health services with equity and in the framework of a referral system that works well.
She explained that it is acknowledged that there are going to be issues that cannot be handled totally at the primary centres which cater mostly for prevention and treatment, but there will be patients who will need more complex forms of care.
Dr. Barnett expressed her satisfaction that there are now more Guyanese who are versed in these issues and that there is an increase in the number of persons accessing the Leaders in International Health programme due to the interconnectivity of territories.
Health Systems and Services Advisor, Dr. Javier Uribe, noted that the completion of the programmes is a boost for the future’s human capital, since there is now a stock of more knowledge and skills required for the development of the primary health care system.
He emphasised that many developed countries have strong primary health care systems and expressed the hope that, in future, more health care professionals can pursue the online programmes provided by PAHO/WHO.
Leaders in Guyana’s Health Sector have realised the need for upward mobility of medical professionals, since this aids the continuous modernisation of the sector. Training has been provided to many Guyanese youths through the Cuban Scholarship, Nursing, Clinical and Technical training programmes.