–Health Ministry mulls establishment of testing site for dengue, malaria in Region 8

TO tackle the daily health needs of the over 480 residents and 100 Venezuelans that make up the population of Kaikan, in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), the Ministry of Health has taken steps to set up a Health Management Committee in the indigenous community.

Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, who made this announcement on Friday at a medical outreach in the community, noted that the Ministry of Health is aware of the difficulty faced by persons in hinterland communities when it comes to accessing health resources.

For this reason, the ministry is exploring innovative ways of ensuring that the needs of the people are not only documented but also addressed.
“Our mission is to take healthcare where it is most needed and where it hasn’t been delivered over the years. So, we need you to be our eyes and ears on the ground to tell us when it is not happening. We are empowering you to call to tell us what you need, to point us in the direction you want us to go if we don’t know the needs we won’t know how to help,” Dr. Mahadeo said.

He noted that the village’s Toshao and Deputy Toshao would not be a part of the committee since it will report its findings to the Village Council, which will directly report to the Ministry of Health.

The committee will meet once a month to ascertain the medical and health needs of the residents. It comprises a retired teacher, a village elder, one representative each from the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force who are stationed in the community, and the community’s resident doctor.

On Friday, the Health Ministry took a team of four medical professionals to the region for a three-day medical outreach, to afford residents access to free health services ranging from dentistry and medical ultrasounds to visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) tests for cervical cancer and optometry.

Dr. Mahadeo said that another major step the Health Ministry has taken to ensure that the health system in the region is adequate, is the provision of a resident doctor; this appointment filled a position which was vacant for some time.

This, he said, is one aspect of the government’s commitment to bridging the gaps between healthcare in hinterland and coastal regions.
The ministry, Dr. Mahadeo affirmed, will work to ensure there is equal access to basic health services across the country.

REDUCING DISPARITIES
To further reduce the disparities that exist, the ministry has been identifying specific health issues in hinterland communities and crafting programmes to address them.
Specific to Region Eight, Dr. Mahadeo said the Ministry of Health is setting up a testing site for dengue and malaria to eliminate the lengthy travels residents of the region would have to endure to conduct a test for either of those diseases.

Both diseases, which are mosquito-borne parasitic diseases, are typically found in hinterland areas, so testing in these areas is a high priority for the residents.
Toshao of Kaikan, Marlon Williams, acknowledged the government’s efforts to enhance healthcare not just in the village, but also in the region as a whole.

Williams lamented the cost of a flight out of the community to visit a healthcare facility on the coastland to do a “simple checkup.”
He said residents would pay around $70,000 for the flight alone, and this would be compounded by the logistical costs they incur once “on the coast.”

To address this issue, Williams suggested that a cottage hospital be built in the community to offer a wide range of services.
This, he said, could easily become a necessity given the growing number of Venezuelan migrants who are living in the region, as well as the increased use of the community’s health post by miners.

Despite the challenges, Toshao Williams admitted that the appointment of a resident doctor improved the health system in the community.
“We have had a lot of challenges before the doctor came in and now that he’s here, I think that would have eased a lot of stress health-wise… some of the illnesses or complaints by persons would have been dealt with on the ground by the doctor and I’m happy that we are getting a positive response by the residents,” Williams said.