-five bills passed, more underway
SEVERAL pieces of legislation have already been passed and several more will soon be laid in the National Assembly as part of the government’s push to modernise Guyana’s health sector.
This is according to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, who said that the government has been working to update the country’s legislation.
During a recent event, the health minister said: “We are constantly updating our legislation, so we have passed a couple pieces over the last two years.”
Since taking office in 2020, the government has enacted just around five bills for the health sector including the Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Bill.
That bill, which was passed in early 2022 provides the legal framework for the removal of human organs, tissues, cells and biofluids for transplantation and blood transfusion. It notes that these transplantations are to be used in regenerative medicine like cell therapy, gene therapy and stem cell therapy among other things.
At the time of the passage of that bill, the health minister had said that doctors in Guyana have been transplanting solid organs since 2008 but without a legal governance structure. This bill guarantees that.
Another bill that was passed was the Nurses and Midwives Bill 2022 which paved the way for the creation of an enhanced regulatory system for nurses, midwives and nursing assistants in Guyana.
That bill also made way for persons to be registered and licensed before they could practice nursing, midwifery and specialist nursing.
Additionally, the government also worked on and passed the Mental Health Protection and Promotion Bill of which the main purpose is to promote the mental health and wellbeing of persons in Guyana and to ensure that all persons receive the best mental health care.
Other bills enacted include the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill and the Suicide Prevention Bill.
Added to this, Dr Anthony indicated that they are currently in the process of passing legislation for the first time in the country that deals with radiation.
“You know we have different types of equipment that we use in medical settings and we need to regulate radiation,” he said.
The Radiation Safety and Security Bill is currently before a select committee.
Its explanatory memorandum speaks to the establishment of a Radiation Safety and Security Board which would be mandated to work with the relevant agencies to ensure that practices involving the use of radiation and nuclear energy are used in the country for only peaceful purposes.
Against this backdrop, the health minister said that this bill is expected to be passed soon even as he added that there are quite a number of other bills that have been passed while several others are currently being worked on.
“I think we have completed about five pieces or six pieces of legislation over the last two years, including updating the mental health legislation and providing a new legislation that deals with suicide prevention,” he added.
He further disclosed that work is currently ongoing on a new piece of legislation that covers the entire public health sector and replaces the current Public Health Ordinance that was enacted in 1934 and has not been updated.
