–health minister says Barbados is “a great team player”
Barbados Health Minister Donville Innis
Barbados Health Minister Donville Innis said there is no new policy that restricts non-nationals from access to health care services on the island. According to him, there is also no legislation that provides for this, contrary to reports in the regional media.
Addressing media operatives in Guyana at the end of the 21st meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), Minister Innis said it has always been a policy of Barbados that non- nationals could not access without charge certain services at health institutions which normally cater to Barbadians and permanent residents.
“The policy of Barbados has always been, and continues to be, that health care in publicly owned institutions remains free as part of a delivery of service to citizens and permanent residents of Barbados only,” the minister explained. He added that non-nationals could still receive medical attention in emergency circumstances.
“Individuals who arrive at the Grantley Adams Airport will get emergency services free of cost,” Innis asserted. ” Medical services can be provided in circumstances of genuine emergency, prenatal care, immunization, conditions of current public health significance, and HIV/ AIDS treatment,” according to a statement that was sent to the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP).
The minister explained that challenges may arise with persons who may not have regularized their residency status. As such, he maintained that that was a matter for the Immigration Department, and not his ministry.
“If someone comes to polyclinic and says I have been living in Barbados for 30 years, we have no way of knowing that,” he pointed out. Innis, a former student of the University of Guyana, said the government merely sought to clarify its policy.
Guyana’s Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, the current Chair of the 21st Meeting of COHSOD, pointed to the impressive record the entire region has for the delivery of health care, but acknowledged the constraints that many countries face with its delivery.
“Whatever interventions we take must always maintain adherence to the human rights’ principles that we developed in our own countries and that we signed globally to,” Ramsammy, however, added. The Guyanese health minister also mentioned the fact that a similar policy has been implemented in many other countries, including the United States of America, wherein undocumented residents have limited access to health care.
In his address at the opening of COHSOD on Thursday, April14th, Ramsammy pointed out that, despite the constraints, “free health care is accessible to anyone accessing health services in the public sector, even if that person is not a citizen of Guyana.
He said Guyana has progressed from an investment of US$6 per capita in 1991 to almost US$100 per capita this year; noting that though it is a severe challenge for the government, more must still be done.
“Almost 90 per cent of all health services in Guyana are obtained through the public health sector.”
The Barbadian health minister also addressed fears that his country’s move might be anti- Caricom or anti- integration by insisting that Barbados has been “a great team player”.
“Barbados has not been known to be anything less than a good partner in Caricom. We have not broken any Caricom rules. We really and truly just sought to ensure that our system of health care is not compromised in any way, shape or fashion.”
Innis further stated that Barbados appreciates those who worked and contributed to the elevation of its economy.
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