Taking quality health care to the people

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,

I think this makes for national heralding – not only in the print media, but via radio and television.

I am referring here to the fact that “Scores of Guyanese benefited from free eye screening, as the Health Ministry continues to place emphasis on quality health care. The service, which was offered free of cost, saw a team of trained eye specialists, undertaking the eye care mission at the Laparkan Group of Companies (Forgarty’s Shopping Complex) on Water Street, Georgetown.”

Now, to me this is ‘big news.’ I just hate when the ‘enemy camps’ seem to trivialise these kinds of happenings. Or what they sometimes do is to say and write what went wrong (even a mere blunder), during these kinds of exercises. Imagine!

What is happening here is simply an unfolding. The Health Ministry is really doing what was promised, since 2006 (to offer free health care to all). For sure, this will take time and effort, but it is happening ‘bit by bit.’ The ‘thing’ is going so good, that Laparkan has come onboard allowing the ministry to use a section of its business spot to accommodate the outreach. This gesture is most welcomed, and it is catching on too.

According to the Health Minister, commercial banks have already signalled their interest in helping with the programme. So, the hope is for more private entities to be involved. Here is a good round up for those who are ‘caught in between.’ Some 85 women have been screened for cervical cancer, five of whom were tested positive with symptoms which might be cancerous and they were attended to. In fact (great to know too) close to 18,000 women have been thus screened for cervical cancer, at the various centres across the country in 2011. This is a ‘big big’ achievement.

The Health Ministry has also made available a vaccine to fight against the effects of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which actually causes cervical cancer. This vaccine, Gardasil, is administered to young girls between the ages of 11 and 13 years. We all know that the best cure is prevention – do not make it happen. Now, there are ongoing blood drives being conducted. I sincerely hope that this will be expedited with great ease and success. At the National Blood Transfusion Services’ Blood Bank, that all precious commodity (blood) is always needed. I close by urging all to come on board and make Guyana a healthy land.

Yours sincerely,

Attiya Baksh

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