THE Ministry of Public Health is boosting its fight against breast cancer with the purchase of a mammography machine.
On Thursday, the National Assembly passed supplementary estimates valuing $86,100M for the purchase of this equipment.
Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence told the House that the machine will be housed at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) and will provide testing free of cost.
A recent step survey found that 95 per cent of more than 168,000 women in Guyana have never had a mammogram done.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among women, the recent step survey found, Minister Lawrence pointed out. Being able to detect breast cancer early will boost the GPHC’s efforts to provide treatment.
In the 2018 National Budget, provisions will be made for an additional two mammography machines to be procured for Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health also got approval for an additional $12,200M for the purchase of a plateletphersis machine for the National Blood Bank. The sum of $1,800M was allocated in the 2017 National Budget for the purchase of the machine however, this was an under estimation.
Minister Lawrence assured the House, following queries from the Opposition, that the procurement of these equipment will be sourced directly from the manufacturers.
The minister explained that from past experience, using the public procurement process resulted in false documents and old machines. Purchasing directly from the manufacturers allows for high maintenance, training of staff and value for money.