GOVERNMENT’S ongoing construction of several regional pharmaceutical bonds is expected to significantly strengthen medicine storage and increase distribution and access across Guyana This was revealed by Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, during a recent interview on Starting Point.
“What we are doing is mimicking what we have at the MMU at Diamond, with proper storage for medicines and in some cases reagents and vaccines so we will have to have cool storage and so on. We are building these bonds and making sure everything is in order so we will be able to send medicines to the regions to be stocked for about a year or more. This way, the facilities in the regions should not have a problem with medicines because they will be getting medicines from the regions themselves.”
Minister Anthony explained that the bonds, which are under construction in Mabaruma, Suddie, Region Six, Mahdia and Lethem, are expected to improve regional storage capacity and reduce shortages by ensuring medicines are readily available closer to where patients live. The construction of the bonds is expected to be completed within the next three to four months, at which time they will become fully operational.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health is in the process of putting a system in place that will track the flow of medicines from the bond to which health facility it is going, then to which patient it is being issued to.
He further noted that improvements in medicine access have been substantial, with national coverage increasing from roughly 39 percent in previous years to between 90 and 95 percent today.
Meanwhile, the Minister revealed that the system that is currently in place leaves much to be desired.
“Right now, the system in place has been working for a long time. When we send medicines out, if it is not used let’s say at a health centre and then it expires, they will discard it. What we are trying to do is, let’s say we have Panadol at a health centre that will expire in three months, we can bring that back and send it to some place where they need Panadol and it will be used up before it expires so this will eliminate a lot of wastage.”
In addition to strengthening pharmaceutical distribution, Minister Anthony highlighted government’s push to expand primary healthcare services, revealing that more than 30 new health posts and health centres have been added over the last two to three years.
He pointed to Eyelash, a mining community in Region One’s Matakai sub-region, where a new health post was recently established to improve healthcare access for residents. This facility is being manned by a healthcare worker.
“The healthcare worker might not have all the skillset necessary but what we are doing is complimenting that person with the use of telemedicine so they can extend the range of things that they can do and if there is a patient that presents and healthcare worker doesn’t understand what is happening with the patient, they can use the telemedicine network to call the doctor, call the specialist who would guide them through what they need to do,” the Minister said.
The combined investments in medicine storage, healthcare infrastructure and telemedicine are intended to build a stronger and more accessible health system for citizens across Guyana, all part of President Irfaan Ali’s vision of providing world class healthcare to all Guyanese.
