–Dr. Jagdeo says
STAYING committed to ensuring that all Guyanese have access to quality healthcare, Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said that the government is aiming to address public health issues in a finite manner in which expenditure does not become recurrent.
He made these remarks during a press conference on Thursday at the Office of the President.
“We are trying to tackle public health issues, but in a way that is finite, and the expenditure doesn’t become recurrent,” Dr. Jagdeo said.
Of all the numerous initiatives, the Vice-President touched on the eye care measures set aside for pensioners and youths.
For context, a budget of over $840 million has been allocated to providing a $3,000 voucher for an eye test to over 205,000 schoolchildren and 76,000 pensioners.
It was Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh who revealed the availability of a $15,000 voucher for those who require spectacles, which will be funded at a cost of $955 million. In total, this intervention adds up to $1.8 billion.
Dr. Jagdeo, while explaining the benefits of initiatives like these, said: “Sight is important; it changes the quality of life.”
Continuing on the topic of sight and its value, the Vice-President stated: “When we invested in the Ophthalmology hospital in Berbice, APNU ran it down….”
The National Ophthalmology Hospital located in Port Mourant, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), continues to have a tremendous impact in providing eye care, with over 1,500 surgeries conducted in 2022.
The hospital was established in 2009 under then President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, under the Guyana-Cuba collaboration programme, to offer specialised eye care, including surgeries for cataracts and other conditions, thereby giving persons access to affordable and quality eye care services.
After highlighting the large number of measures that are within Budget 2024 for the people of Guyana, Dr. Jagdeo debunked the narrative that this year’s fiscal package does not have incentives for the ordinary man.
Apart from the $129.8 billion allocation to the health sector, which is a significant increase when compared to the allocation made under the previous APNU+AFC government, Dr. Jagdeo said: “It’s not for aliens; it’s for people… All of these initiatives are for the people of this country.”
Furthermore, in a live broadcast following the presentation of the country’s largest fiscal package of $1.146 trillion to the National Assembly, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said that the budgetary measure brings parity of service between the minimum thresholds of healthcare services that must be available to all the citizens of the country.
“This is an amazing measure of Budget 2024. When we campaigned, we said we want people to live in dignity; our pensioners and our children must have equity and access… We are keeping true to this promise.”
“We have sat down with all the local providers of this service, and the cost of an eye test is $3,000 to check your vision. Every pensioner, every schoolchild will get a voucher for $3,000 to go and check their eyes… We are talking here about 205,000 school children and 76,000 pensioners,” President Ali said during his presentation.
Meanwhile, the President disclosed that a special mechanism will be established to deal with children and pensioners in the hinterland and riverine areas.
“This measure would cost almost $1 billion outside of this. And, as you can see, this measure is also targetted at supporting the investment our Private Sector individuals are making in the healthcare system; building up their capacity, and we are showing confidence in their investment by allowing our children and pensioners to cash this voucher at any facility in the programme that is doing it for this $3,000,” he explained.
The investment, he reiterated, builds out a system that supports the welfare and well-being of citizens.
“Taking care of the eye health of our children and our pensioners is an investment of about $2 billion, getting all our children, bringing parity, bringing parity of service and giving them a choice to choose between the public or private entity where they want to go and test their eyes. That is what builds equality,” the Head of State said.
