–Health Minister says; affirms Budget 2024 will prioritise people and create opportunities

GUYANA is currently on the verge of a healthcare revolution, with more significant investments imminent with Budget 2024.

This was according to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, during his contribution to the budget debate on Thursday.

He highlighted that when one is to look and compare what the current People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government is doing and what the previous APNU+AFC administration did, there is a total difference.

“We are on the verge of a healthcare revolution driven by strategic initiatives, innovation and a collective commitment to the well-being of the citizens of this country,” Dr Anthony said.

The Health Minister added that this level of transformation is unparalleled in the history of the country, and noted that the PPP/C administration’s objective is not only to build good healthcare, but to create a world-class healthcare system as mandated by President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

“This budget is not about empty talk; it is a budget that transforms talk into action. This budget will revolutionise every sector and uplift the entire nation. It is a budget all about the people of this country, their health, their well-being and their prosperity,” Dr Anthony lamented.

He went on to debunk the repeated iterations by Opposition members who claim that the budget has nothing for the people of the country.

Dr Anthony emphasised the strategic approach towards addressing issues from the neonatal stage right up.

CHILDREN’S HEALTH

To this end, he revealed that the sector is in need of specialised neonatal units so that neonates could receive the level of care they require all across the country.

Most of these units, the minister said, are in the Georgetown Public Hospital, with a few at some of the regional hospitals.

“However, this government decided that we want to expand neonatal care to all our regional hospitals. Starting from last year, we expanded neonatal care at New Amsterdam, West Demerara Public Hospital, Suddie, Linden Hospital Complex, Mabaruma, Kumaka, Bartica, and the Lethem Hospital. And this year, we will do another six sets of neonatal units in the new six hospitals that we are building,” Dr Anthony said.

Those facilities will significantly improve the chances of survival for babies who are at high risk of premature deaths, the minister said, adding that this is what could be called “transformation in action.”

Dr Anthony said that just last year, the government started a school health programme in collaboration with Mount Sinai and as a result, preventative check-ups were done for over 12,000 children across the country.

The Health Minister said that in this year’s budget, the government will ensure the continuation and expansion of this programme at the nursery and primary levels so that children could benefit adequately from screening.

“Furthermore, it is our government’s intention that every school-aged child would be screened at least once in nursery, once in primary and once in secondary; meaning that they’ll get free screening during their school life and any problem that we find we will be able to fix it so that these children can grow up healthy,” the Health Minister said.

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Added to this, the government also intends to expand and place significant importance on women’s health and tackling cancer which, he noted, was a major concern for women in the populace.
Dr Anthony told the House that the government has set a goal to meet the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) targets by 2030 regarding the response to cervical cancer. The goal, he said, includes having some 90 per cent of girls receiving full HPV vaccines by the age of 15.

The other aspect of the target aims to have 70 per cent of all women undergo high-performance screening tests by the age of 35 and again at 45. The third target is to have 90 per cent of all persons diagnosed with cervical cancer receive appropriate treatment.

“This year, we will target 41,539 girls between the ages of nine and 15 to ensure that they can get the HPV vaccine. And if we accomplish that, then we would accomplish the 90 per cent that we are going after,” he added.

The government, Dr Anthony said, will not stop there, as they will target some 62,500 women in the 16 to 25 years age category, and have them offered two doses of the vaccine and further approximately 94,000 women in the 26 to 45 years age categories for doses of the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

The budget, he added, also allocates resources so that 52,000 women can benefit from VIA, pap smears and HPV tests. As presented by the Finance Minister, some $3.8 billion is set aside as part of this measure.

HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE

Meanwhile, in response to Opposition Member, Dr Karen Cummings, who praised the Ocean View infectious disease facility as part of the APNU+AFC administration’s legacy, he said that the facility was a “shell” and though commissioned, had nothing that a facility which was set to house COVID-19 patients at that time was supposed to have.

Against this backdrop, the minister said that the government has set aside funds to improve the healthcare infrastructure all across the country.

Several new hospitals are catered for in this year’s budget, and eight are currently under construction and some others are expected to come on stream soon.

He then reminded Dr Cummings that it was her party while in government that got a loan for rehab works to the West Demerara, Suddie and Bartica Hospitals and nothing was done.

“When we came in and we went out, we recognised that from the design, when we did the design, that the money would not be enough to do all three hospitals and so we have decided that we are going to spend the money on fixing [the] Bartica Hospital. In addition to Bartica, we’ll be doing the hospital at Lethem, Moruca, Kamarang and Kato and this will change the infrastructure landscape for our hospitals in this country,” Dr Anthony said.