RESIDENTS of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) turned out in their numbers on Saturday to benefit from healthcare resources during an outreach held at the Tuschen Primary School, East Bank Essequibo, by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MHSSS).

The outreach, part of the ministry’s mandate to provide services to the vulnerable, and the community in general, began at 10:00hrs and saw organisations such as Modern Optical Services and the Dr. Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre partnering with the ministry to grant access to free eye testing, dental care (inclusive of tooth extraction and cleaning), as well as blood and sugar testing.

A team from the Ministry of Health was also present to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
“The message that we’re carrying with us is one that benefits all the people of Guyana. We are trying to eradicate all the ills of society. We see, aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, we have things like violence; violence, especially against women and children. And those of you here today, please carry our message of zero tolerance. No more beating up of people, no more killing of women, and no more abuse of babies. We should not be seeing that in our country,” subject minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud expressed in her opening remarks to the gathering at Tuschen.

She also expressed her satisfaction with the number of senior citizens who turned out and registered for assistance, drawing their attention to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines. She also highlighted the issue of elderly abuse, and admonished residents to exercise vigilance in curbing this, and all forms of abuse.

When the exercise concluded at 14:30hrs, approximately 550 persons had registered to benefit from the services offered, with the doctors, the eye specialist and dental services receiving the highest numbers in registration.

“I think it’s an overwhelming turnout, and clearly, people have responded to the services that we have brought to the community. This is a part of the outreach programmes that we are doing from the ministry that we had started before, and we are continuing with Region Three, and we will continue for the rest of the year, across the country,” Dr. Persaud said.

“It’s a comprehensive approach to people. Health, wellness, and also our services from the Ministry, including childcare, pension, public assistance, the elderly, and we’re also looking at persons with difficult circumstances. With collaboration between the Region, the Ministry of Health and us, we’ve been able to deal with vaccinations today.”

The vaccinations, which were made available for persons over 60, also saw a surprisingly large number of registrations, following the minister’s assurance that she had taken the vaccine, and was not harmed by its effects.

“They ain’t really get much side effects. Meh get lil pain, lil bad feelings, but after I sit down couple minutes, it gone,” one of the seniors, who gave her name as “Savitri”, said, of the vaccine. She expressed her belief that everyone in Guyana should take the vaccine to safeguard against the coronavirus.

“Because this thing serious bad,” the woman went on to note, “is nah best you get the vaccine and get the lil side effects than you get expose to the virus and dead?” she reasoned.

Residents of Tuschen and its surrounding areas were quick to laud the initiative, calling it a “convenient, helpful and brilliant idea.”
“Nobody should be scared to take the vaccine. In fact, I would encourage it. And then you come to take the vaccine, and you get all these other thing you could benefit from,” Harry, a 67-year-old resident of Parika asserted. “The Minister and the Ministry, they do a very good job.”

Representatives of various units of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, including the Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit, the Gender Affairs Bureau, the Support and Heal Network (SAHN), the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI), the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), and the Probation and Social Services Department, also took part in the outreach to offer counselling, guidance and other support services.