THE Ministry of Health and several other agencies have, over the past two weeks, been diligently following an outbreak of gastroenteritis in parts of Region One (Barima/Waini), where approximately 250 cases were recorded.

Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, who made the disclosure at a press conference in Ramphal House, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, yesterday, said, in the last few days, the number of persons infected has increased and that has caused his ministry, together with other ministries and entities to mount a bigger response.
He said the ministries which are involved include the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the Ministry of Housing and Water and among the agencies that have been quietly and actively assisting are the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Ramsaran also stated that the matter was discussed at  Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, where President Donald Ramotar instructed that efforts already undertaken by the Health Ministry and others must be strengthened.
According to the Minister, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud has been given instructions to create a formal task force, including the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI),the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Ramsaran revealed that, two weeks ago, a team was sent in to the affected areas and conducted a 48 hours study, returning with preliminary impressions.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS
He said a second team went on Thursday, March 7 and they returned on Tuesday. Both conducted community meetings and the second held them in all of the affected communities.
In addition to the meetings, Ramsaran said certain supplies, such as oral dehydration salts were distributed to the targeted residents and they were educated on the uses.
Ramsaran, noting that health is also the responsibility of the citizen and corporate bodies who take part in economic activities, said he is appealing to citizens to protect their own and that of other persons in the community, making particular reference to those involved with logging and mining.
He pointed out, too, that this disease is very much preventable and the Ministry wants to do more awareness work in order to educate persons about it but its resources are limited.
Speaking at the press conference, as well, CMO Dr. Persaud said that, during the second week of February, they started to note increases in Region One cases, more specifically in some of the villages near Port Kaituma, such as Sebai and Canal Bank.
He said most of them were being identified in the upper part of the community and teams which visited the area were, immediately, able to recognise that this outbreak was due to the increased turbidity of the water in the rivers.
Persaud said, so far, there were three reported deaths, all of whom were babies and samples were taken from all of the children and the cultures are still being examined.
He said samples of water were also taken from several wells and river sources, the supply in those communities are often pumped from there and then distributed.

CONTAMINATION
Persaud said all of the water samples, even those from the solar power well at Sebai, were deemed unacceptable, since in all of the instances there was contamination, specifically from human waste.
He said sanitary conditions in the community were also assessed and, together with the environmental unit of the ministry and the regional environmental health officials, they assessed the garbage disposal situation.
Dr. Persaud said officers observed that some members of the community were dumping garbage in the river as a means of disposal, which he deemed as totally unacceptable, as there is a dump site for sanitary waste in the Port Kaituma area and the Region also provides support.
He said pit latrines were found to be in close proximity to the river which is very insanitary and people in the mining areas were told to cease operations until they put measures in place to correct the issues but they were unable to confirm if those who received the orders adhered to them.
Persaud said the Health Ministry, along with the regional health authority, has been implementing an education programme, distributing bleach and water treatment tablets to residents and also conducting sessions on how to manage diarrhoea and dehydration, which are some of the symptoms of gastroenteritis.
He stated that the ministry is currently in discussion with the regional authority and GWI and the investigating teams have recommended that ways be found to make the entire domestic water supply in these communities safer.