–to provide targeted care to HIV, TB patients
MINISTER of Health Dr. Frank Anthony commissioned a $30 million infectious diseases clinic at the Suddie Public hospital on Monday.
The clinic will be utilised specifically to treat persons with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB).
Dr. Anthony said healthcare workers will now have a better facility to treat patients suffering from these diseases, and reiterated the ministry’s efforts in treating patients living with HIV, and to eliminate the disease altogether from Guyana’s population.
“As you know, with HIV, there’s a lot of things that we’re doing to change how we treat with HIV patients, and so, one of the things that we want to move to is not just treating persons who are HIV-positive, but also those persons who are at high risk,” he said.
The minister said that the ministry has also rolled out a comprehensive pre-exposure prophylaxis programme (PrEP) across the country, which will allow persons who believe they have been exposed to HIV to be treated.
To this end, Dr. Anthony said: “We have enough medication to do PrEP, and, therefore, if we follow the protocol, then we’ll be able to minimise persons getting the infection, so as not to become positive.”
He reiterated that soon, HIV self-testing kits would be introduced as another way of detecting the disease in its early stage.
In relation to TB, Dr. Anthony said: “As you know, with TB, one of our biggest challenges has been making sure that people take their medication; and if we’re going to help to cure these people, then we have to make sure they take the medication on time.”
He further noted that at the height of the ‘pandemic’, health workers were unable to go out into the communities to ensure persons were taking their medication.
“So, we need to recover; we need to go back out; we need to find these patients, and make sure they are on treatment,” Dr. Anthony told health workers.
Additionally, $100 million has been allocated to improving health facilities in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). Dr. Anthony said that x-ray services and intensive care at the Suddie Hospital will soon be improved, and that training opportunities for Community Health Workers (CHW) and nurses will also be made available in the region.
Parliamentary Representative for Region Two and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall said developments in the health sector, particularly in the region, were made possible by healthcare providers.
“You have seen progress in the delivery of health, and this couldn’t happen without your profound support, and, more importantly, with the way you dealt with all of the issues,” he told health workers.
Minister Dharamlall said, too: “It makes no sense we have the physical and tangible things, and the people who are supposed to be the ones behind it are not optimally trained.”
Additionally, six TB patients and more than 100 with HIV, along with those having other forms of infectious diseases will be treated at the new Clinic. (DPI)
