Neonatal deaths in Guyana

Last Thursday, Guyana’s Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence revealed that some 119 neonatal deaths were recorded at the Georgetown Public Hospital for the period June 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, with 32 deaths occurring during the first quarter of 2018 alone.
A neonatal death is the death of a baby within the first 28 days after birth.
The minister, after being quizzed by Opposition Member of Parliament Dr Vindhya Persaud in the National Assembly, also admitted that while there has been no significant increase in the numbers of neonatal deaths, the figure which she provided the House was still “alarming” and “too high”.
A number of other pertinent and serious questions were posed by Dr Persaud to the Public Health Minister during their exchange, and the minister, no doubt, attempted to defend the work being done by the hospital and its administration, as well as the Ministry of Public Health and its partners, to tackle the worrying situation.
Among other things, the parliamentary Opposition’s questions provided food for thought about a number of deeply connected matters related to the fight to reduce neonatal deaths in Guyana while boosting the general quality of care and services provided to pregnant women and their newborns, as well as unborn children.
The exchange also allowed the general public and other experts in the field of medicine, child care and clinical services insight into what is really taking place at the nation’s premier health institution, as the Government has been known traditionally to horde and hide statistics that could damage its track record and shift the public’s thinking about the performances of key sectors.
The fact that the number of deaths decreased from 295 in 2014 to 119 in 2017 is neither here nor there. Guyana should be striving to have zero neonatal deaths; or, if this is impossible, numbers in the single digits, which are extreme cases.
Also, the revelation by the minister that no new recommendations were made by those in authority — particularly the Child Morbidity and Mortality Committee — because no special investigations were conducted, as there were no discrepancies found, or further investigations warranted for the period, is disappointing to say the least.
Surely, no less than ten women have complained to various sections of the media about the quality of care they received at the hospital’s maternity ward, which each has linked to death of her baby. And, of course, those at the helm of GPHC know full well that there is a perception that some of the senior staff and junior staff there are negligent in the execution of their official duties. Additionally, patients have complained, time and time again, about the indifference and lack of remorse shown by some whenever would-be mothers make allegations, which quite a few times ended up in lawsuits being filed by the parents against the hospital for skullduggery.
In order to combat this perception, and boost the public’s confidence in the hospital’s ability to arrest the situation and provide the highest possible care, these statistics should be released in a quarterly fashion by the Chief Medical Officer in the presence of the media. He must share details about probes, findings, and what measures are being implemented; as well as the number of staff disciplined or retrained.
The minister must also embark upon a campaign to get another Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in order to boost the hospital’s ability to cut the number of deaths by 80 percent over the next 4 years. She may choose to embark upon a private/public partnership model to ensure that all of the key health care institutions in the country have at least one NICU of their own, in order to cut the demand for the services at the GPHC. On the other hand, the Government can divert some of the resources spent on the unnecessary commissions of inquiry, the payment of special prosecutors and advisors to the Attorney General’s Chambers, ministers’ travel and other non-priority areas, to tackle the issues of maternity and neonatal deaths.
Every life matters, and in this era of technology and advanced communication, Guyana can ill-afford not to boost its resource management techniques and levels of preparedness for any and all forms of emergency.
The Public’s confidence, therefore, is intricately linked to the level of openness, honesty and frankness displayed by those at the helm of the GPHC, who must see and engage the media as a key partner in its work programme.