United States Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt Friday evening placed in the spotlight, the tremendous impact the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has had on Guyana’s health sector.
Speaking at a reception held at his Cummings Lodge residence to welcome members of the Howard University Hospital Medical Association, the ambassador said the PEPFAR programme has been “instrumental in boosting Guyana’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic”.
It was explained that partnerships which evolved between the Guyana government and non-governmental institutions have allowed for the rapid expansion of voluntary counselling and testing facilities. This move, he emphasised, now gives Guyanese the opportunity to know their HIV status, faster and easier.
Pregnant women
“Treatment for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission has been effectively and efficiently distributed.” It was owing to the resounding success of the programme that the United States Congress unanimously renewed funding for the initiative.
“With President Obama’s signature of the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act of 2013, the United States has reaffirmed our commitment to the global struggle to eradicate this disease,” Ambassador Hardt told his distinguished audience with pride.
Channelling the world’s attention to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a timely intervention, he said, positing that significant strides have been made in addressing communicable diseases on the international stage.
Strengthen relationship
“I am confident that through exchanges such as this, our countries can continue to strengthen our professional relationships and advance that goal,” said an optimistic Hardt.
He told his attentive audience that it is the continuous involvement of American groups and organisations such as the Howard University that helps the country to progress in the medical field.
The Howard University Hospital Medical Association is currently in Guyana collaborating with more than 150 local healthcare professionals for the staging of a medical education programme that seeks to examine key issues and current research in areas such as diabetes and hypertension.
The Howard University situated in the heart of Washington, DC, was founded in 1867. It is one of the oldest historically black universities in the United States. Alluding to the successes of the world renowned university, the U.S ambassador pointed out that distinguished alumni include the Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who “famously argued in 1954 in Brown versus Board of Education that ‘separate but equal’ was unconstitutional”.
Landmark decision
“This landmark decision is often cited as a turning point in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, which led to the emergence of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965,” he added.
Howard University Hospital Medical Association Chairman Phillip H Omohundro MD, said it was a pleasure to be in Guyana. He has pledged the association’s support to the people of Guyana in the medical arena.
In addition to members of the Howard University Hospital Medical Association, ministers of government, members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation were also in attendance, among other persons.
