GUYANA will soon adopt a 15-year global blueprint on women, child and adolescent health which protects their physical and mental well-being and opens up economic and social opportunities.
This was according to Director of Maternal Child Health (MCH), Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton on Saturday through a release from the Public Health Ministry.

Dr. Hamilton, who is attached to the ministry, represented Guyana at the recently held United Nations (UN) Global Strategy for Women, Children and Adolescent Health 2016-2030, in Bridgetown, Barbados. The forum scrutinised the covenant targeting women, children and adolescent health with the aim of strengthening it.
Accompanying Hamilton were Lolitta Rebeiro, Senior Medex, attached to the Regional Health Services (RHS) Department, and Dr. Janice Woolford, Specialist Family and Community Health of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

The universal strategy with a 2030 wind-up focuses on nine core areas: country leadership; health systems resilience; community engagement; humanitarian and fragile settings; accountability for results; resource and rights; financing for health; individual potential; multi-sectoral action and research and innovation.
According to the ministry, the strategy envisions rights to physical and mental health and well- being for every woman, child and adolescent and social and economic opportunities for all.

Meanwhile, it was explained that the Bridgetown sub-regional consultation was aimed at building synergies for the implementation framework, which also aims to end preventable deaths.
The forum, the ministry noted, also examined the expansion of enabling environments for this grouping to thrive, with three key objectives: survival by ending preventable deaths; thriving: via ensuring health and well-being; and transformation by expanding all enabling environments.
Following the completion of the forum on June 2, Dr Hamilton explained that the Public Health Ministry will be looking at the broad aspect of survive, thrive and transform so that no woman, adolescent or child is at risk of preventable death.

She noted that the rights-based approach is of vital importance to Guyana and adapting this principle to the context of the Caribbean is imperative in maintaining a healthy population.
“Guyana will be looking closely at the multi- sectoral approach to women, children and adolescents which is very important, as well as the community- based platform. The Inter-American Development Bank funding that we have is going to support the beginning of the preview which will focus primarily on reproductive health,” Dr Hamilton said.
Further, she pointed out that this means that the ministry will be looking at improving the life expectancy and quality of life of the beneficiaries and reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on them.

The ministry has said that Guyana continues to face the challenge of reducing its maternal mortality ratio, its neonatal mortality ratio as well as its fertility rate for the adolescent population.
“These threaten the medical system and also has grave social implications which can translate to negative economic growth for the country” the Ministry noted in its release.