-as PALTEX launches programme in Guyana
By Ravin Singh
GUYANESE medical professionals are now in a position to benefit from cheaper medical instruments and textbooks as PLATEX Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) launched its “Expanded Programme of Textbooks and Instructional Materials” project on Friday. Since its implementation in 1966, PALTEX PAHO/WHO has established a cooperation strategy essential technique of PAHO. The mission of PALTEX PAHO/WHO is to contribute to
the development of education human resources for health, in order to achieve the strengthening of care in the Region of the Americas.
And this is exactly what the programme aims to do in Guyana. According to PALTEX Administrator Specialist, Eduardo Castro, the agency will be providing Guyana with updated medical materials, both in the form of textbooks and medical instruments.
However, he was keen to note that these materials (both the textbooks and instruments) will be 40-50 per cent cheaper than the market price.
“We bring into the country updated materials and the benefit is that we can offer it 40-50 per cent lower than the market price.”
Castro went on to explain that a few years ago when he visited some medical institutions in Guyana, he noticed that students did not have the necessary textbooks; instead, they studied from in-class notes and online PDF documents.
“The basic textbooks that students need, they don’t have it. So they need texts to assist them. There will be a time when most of these materials will be online. But as it is, instead of them having to pay to ship books into the country, which is usually very expensive, we are bringing them in at a cheaper cost,” he said.
Not limited to just textbooks, Castro said that PALTEX will also be introducing an E-library that local medical institutions can pay to have access to. Through that agreement, he added, all students can have access to the materials online.
Additionally, he stated that basic medical instruments including the stethoscope, Sphygmomanometer, thermometer, etc will also be available at reduced prices. To date, PALTEX PAHO/WHO has provided more than seven million books and basic diagnostic instruments in more than 530 institutions in 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Guyana is the second country in the Caribbean to introduce the PALTEX project.
Lauding the re-introduction of the project, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings, encouraged medical students to seize all opportunities provided through this programme.
In thanking PLATEX PAHO/WHO for making the project a reality, she noted that the launch was impeccably timed, since the public health sector in Guyana is experiencing positive reform.
“The launch of the project is impeccably well-timed. Presently, the public health sector is under reform and the ministry has been working assiduously to provide quality health services to all Guyanese,” she said.
She reiterated that the opportunities provided can elevate the quality of teaching and learning and that all medical practitioners and students should utilise the opportunities presented to them.
Echoing similar sentiments was Director, Regional Health Services, Dr Kay Shako who expressed the view that this launch comes at a time when Guyana is building capacity in the medical and related fields.
She noted too that the country is “moving into the right direction,” and this programme provides an opportunity for individuals to expand their knowledge through books. “Let us not waste it” she said, adding that, “If we can all read a chapter a day, it can change the lives of people in Guyana.”