aiming for modernisation and expansion

THE Parliamentary Committee of Supply, on Wednesday, approved the budgetary allocation of $121 billion for the Ministry of Health thus continuing the advancement and modernisation of the country’s health sector.
During the 100th sitting of the Twelfth Parliament, the committee delved into the estimates and expenditures for the ministry for 2025 and scrutinised specific allocations for the year using up all of its allotted two-hour time for examination.

Responding to questions on specific allocations, the Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, noted that some $400 million has been allocated to cater for a new National rehabilitation centre. This project, he added is now going through the design stage and would then move towards the construction stage.
As such, Dr Anthony indicated that, depending on the footprint of the building, the intention is to have the building constructed where the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre currently sits.
The six regional hospitals project is one of the more significant projects set for completion this year.

Against this backdrop, he noted that those will be completed shortly as within the next four months the first hospital will be opened and thereafter the public will see the others open one after the other.
He noted that, before the end of the year, they would all be opened and added that the completion stage for the hospitals at Diamond, Enmore and Bath was currently about 90 to 95 per cent complete while the hospitals at De Kinderen, Lima and No. 75 village are about 85 to 90 per cent complete.

It was noted that some $28.1 billion has been allocated for the completion of those hospitals along with the Paediatric and Maternal hospital at Ogle, East Coast Demerara along with a few other regional hospitals.
Continuing on infrastructure, it was noted that close to $800 million was being invested to build a new health facility at Campbellville which will be equipped with all modern amenities.
With several new health facilities set to come on stream this year, the building out of the human resource capacity is expected to remain a priority for the health ministry.
As such, the sum of $852 million was approved by the committee for the construction of training complexes in Regions Two and Six.

While more than 2,000 health professionals have completed training since 2020 and graduated, the health minister added that over 3,200 are expected to complete training in 2025.
Along with this, he noted that there are currently nine simulation centres around the country which the ministry provides with supplies and will continue to do so this year.

Meanwhile, among other significant initiatives to be undertaken this year in the health sector, Dr Anthony indicated that they will be providing free prostheses for those persons in need while also purchasing and providing free wheelchairs for those who may need them.
Added to this, he noted that diabetic patients with ulcers will be provided with offloading footwear, and those in need of braces, walkers and other critical gear will be catered for in this year’s budget.

Specific funding has been set aside also for the continuation of the school health programme which is expected to be expanded this year. This programme sees screening done for children in schools from Nursery to Secondary schools.
Further to this, an allocation of $2.98 billion has been set aside for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, while $28 billion has been approved for the provision of drugs and medical supplies this year along with other critical allocations