– Dr. Shamdeo Persaud reminds women of Region Two

By: Indrawattie Natram 

CHIEF Medical Officer (CMO) and Vice-President of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Advisory Board, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, on Friday, reiterated that there are safe ways for women to terminate unwanted pregnancies and such services are readily available from licensed gynaecologists.

He made these comments to the media during a visit to Chairperson of the Region Two administration, Vilma Da Silva. Dr. Persaud and several members of the Advisory Board are currently on a three-day visit to the region as part of a sensitisation campaign on the safe termination of pregnancy, targeting various women groups, teenagers, and community leaders.
The CMO clarified that the Advisory Board is not in any way promoting abortion but rather the members were in the region to ensure that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, which falls under the Laws of Guyana, Chapter 32:05, is implemented whenever the termination process is performed.

The Advisory Board intends to work closely with the regional health team to ensure that abortion services are up to standard and that the health of women is prioritised.
Further, the Advisory Board will place emphasis on teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancies, and sensitive issues such as sexual violence in all forms in vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, Da Silva, during her interaction with the team, said that she is pleased that Region Two is benefitting from such an outreach. She said the team visited at an opportune time when many teenagers are away from school. Sensitising them about teenage pregnancy is important, she said.

The newly-installed Chairperson said she is looking forward to working with members of the board to ensure the residents of Region Two gets assistance.
Regional Health Officer, Dr. Ranjeev Singh, in brief remarks, thanked the team for their visit and said that the regional health team will be working closely with the Advisory Board to ensure that the termination of pregnancy is done safely. He said too that the Regional Health Committee will be working closely with the Central Committee in the dissemination of information about this issue.

Accompanying Dr. Persaud were the Senior Probation Officer of the Ministry of Human Services, Wynette Trotz, and Ryan Belvert and Rajpattie Nauth from the Inter-Religious Organisation of Guyana.
A similar outreach was conducted last week in Region Six. Outreaches were also conducted previously in the Pomeroon area where persons are known to use herbs for the termination of unwanted pregnancies.