THE Public Health Ministry is taking strategic steps to remove the barriers hindering the country from achieving universal vaccination coverage, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings said on Wednesday.

At the time, she was delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Review Meeting – a two-day conference being held by the Public Health Ministry’s Maternal and Child Health Department, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) at the Grand Coastal Hotel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.

Guyana, Minister Cummings said, established a Multi-Year Plan 2017–2021 for achieving improved immunisation coverage across the country. However, she said key to achieving universal vaccination coverage is the availability and optimal utilisation of adequate human resources.

“In this regard, strategic efforts are being undertaken to strengthen our human resources through continuous capacity-building initiatives that will ensure our immunisation staff are properly trained, adequately skilled and capable of effectively executing their duties,” the junior health minister explained.

While significant strides have been made on the coast, easy access to remote areas of the country remains a hindrance in the process, the minister reported.
However, she said the Public Health Ministry is working to address these challenges as well.
“Through better inter-sectoral coordination, enhanced transportation and logistical systems, supported by a robust public communication strategy, more persons will have access to vaccines and be sensitised to the importance and benefits of immunisation,” she assured.

Moving forward, Minister Cummings said that the Expanded Programme on Immunisation will include a comprehensive assessment of the status of the current cold chain equipment countrywide.
“Increasing and improving our cold chain capacity is a priority and will remain as such as Guyana aims to achieve universal vaccination coverage in the near future. Careful attention will be placed particularly on our hinterland regions where most of the challenges of cold storage exist,” she explained.

Further steps, the junior health minister assured will be taken to enhance the Maternal and Child Health Department’s monitoring and evaluation capabilities relative to the earlier identification of dropouts and the need for follow-up visits.

MORE HOME VISITS
According to her, this strategic plan will trigger more home visits and other outreach activities, inclusive of social mobilisation initiatives, utilising appropriate public communication channels.

Guyana is among countries that have benefited significantly from the GVAP initiative in procuring vaccines for children. Currently, 17 vaccines exist in the Public Health Ministry’s vaccination schedule to which every child has equal access.
Minister Cummings informed that the most recent vaccine added to the list was the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), noting that though there were implementation challenges, the barriers are being broken down through public education.
MCH Director Dr Ertenisa Hamilton and her team were singled out by the junior heath minister for the outstanding work being done despite limited resources and other logistical problems.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Boyle; PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow; and Sylvie Fouet, UNICEF Country Representative, were among health officials that attended the opening ceremony on Wednesday.
According to academic research, immunisation is a proven tool for controlling and eliminating life-threatening infectious diseases and is estimated to avert two to three million deaths each year.

Dr Adu-Krow, in delivering brief remarks, told those present that the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases remains a threat, as he pointed to the Americas which had proclaimed to have achieved elimination status for measles in 2016.
“As of February 26 2018, regarding the measles situation in Boa Vista, Roraima State, Brazil which is our bordering country, there was a total of 13 suspected cases of measles, including one laboratory-confirmed case. These have been reported among children aged five months to 10 years and five of the cases have been hospitalised,” Dr Adu-Krow pointed out.

He further pointed out that between January 2016 and January 2018, seven countries and territories of the region of the Americas reported confirmed cases of yellow fever – the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname.
These situations, he said, are of great concern to PAHO/WHO and technical support is being offered.

The health experts today will continue analysing the work being done within the administrative regions with respect to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation with the view to improving services and removing obstacles that could prevent the country from achieving the universal vaccination coverage.