DURING the presentation of the $208.8B, 2013 National Budget in the National Assembly, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said the health sector will advance develop
ment of a new strategic plan, which will incorporate lessons learnt from the previous strategic plan, while still consolidating the gains made in the sector over the past five years.

It is in this context that $19.2B has been allocated to the sector with the aim of achieving universal health coverage through the primary health care approach, he stated.
Over $17B was expended in 2012, the final year of the National Health Strategic Plan 2008-2012.
For the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of health infrastructure countrywide, $2.3B has been allocated, of which $1.3B has been budgeted for the state-of-the-art specialty surgical hospital and the Port Kaituma District Hospital.
In an effort to improve the supply chain management system, a new pharmaceutical and medical warehouse, equipped with necessary software, was commissioned recently, and is expected to result in a more efficient distribution network for drugs and medical supplies.
Minister Singh said that over $369M has been budgeted for human resource development to enhance the competency of health officials. “The system will benefit from the return of a further 278 Cuban trained doctors who will be deployed countrywide,” he said.
Further, in the context of specialised care, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), in collaboration with overseas universities, is offering post graduate programmes in gynaecology, orthopaedics, internal medicine, paediatrics, emergency medicine, anaesthesiology and surgery.
“Maternal health is a top priority on government’s health care agenda, with a view to advancing progress towards the reduction of maternal mortality and under- five mortality… in early March, national consultations were held to develop an action plan towards eliminating the current bottlenecks in the provision of quality maternal health care services, as part of the MDG Acceleration Framework process,” the minister explained.
The under-five mortality concerns are being addressed with, among other things, a neonatal intensive care unit being established at the GPHC, with support from an overseas-based partner, and will be expanded through the same joint public private initiative in Linden and West Demerara.
Minister Singh pointed out that in an effort to intensify the fight against malaria, government has budgeted for the procurement and distribution of over 6,000 long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets for hinterland communities, primarily in mining areas.
In addition, chronic non-communicable diseases now present a particular challenge for Guyana and the world. These include cardiovascular disease and hypertension, diabetes, cancers and chronic pulmonary diseases.
“Changing lifestyles, especially in diet, and an emerging sedentary habit, the use of tobacco and abuse of alcohol have contributed significantly to the shift from communicable diseases, and budget allocations within the health sector will increasingly target addressing this shift,” Minister Singh posited.

Improved health care system
In 2012, a total of $14.5B was set aside for the health sector and of that total, $1B was spent on expanding, upgrading and maintaining the infrastructural facilities in the sector, including funding of a mobilisation payment for the state-of-the-art specialty surgical hospital at Liliendaal, which will afford Guyanese the opportunity to access specialised health care services, upgrade of the National Psychiatric Hospital and Georgetown School of Nursing, and construction of the Port Mourant Health Centre.
In 2012, $335M was spent on training of public health personnel to meet the growing demand for both basic and specialised services.
Further, the sector benefited from the return of another batch of 21 new Cuban-trained Guyanese doctors, deployed to the GPHC, New Amsterdam Hospital and several other health facilities.
Government also executed other critical aspects of the sector’s mandate through the provision of expanded services, including tuberculosis and malaria testing, numerous vaccination campaigns, introduction of dialysis services, and knee and hip replacement surgery, and medical evacuation of critically ill patients from hinterland locations.