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Poverty, health and development

Jul 08, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Poverty has always been a major impediment towards access to proper health care. Many people in developing countries who are coerced to live in poor-environments are at risk to dangerous disease because they live under poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water and proper shelter.
In order to sustain economic development, the link between poverty and ill-health must be broken. The battle between poverty and health requires strengthening the delivery and quality of healthcare services, reaching highly vulnerable groups, developing more effective partnerships with the private sector, and designing equitable health financing mechanisms. Also, Governments in developing countries have to spend more in the health sector in order to improve on health care services to all, especially, the poor.
Some Governments in developing countries do not make health care as priority; however, the situation in Guyana is different since health care in Guyana encompasses a wide range of health services. The Government of Guyana continues to expand infrastructure developments, human resource skills, and services offered in the health sector.
Today, health is regarded as the first Millennium Development Goal, which assists in the eradication of poverty. Guyana is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and three of these goals relate to the improvement of the health sector by 2015.  These improvements include: reducing child deaths, maternal mortality, and the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. It is agreed globally, that one of the fundamental rights of every human being should be to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, and the Government of Guyana recognises this.
As an effort to reduce maternal and childhood mortality, several programmes were implemented in the health sector, such as: encouraging exclusive breastfeeding up to six months where it is appropriate, promoting complete immunization of all children before entry to nursery schools; providing essential emergency obstetric care in remote areas in the hinterland, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (lMCI) through all 10 regions of Guyana; promoting and expanding the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.
The maternal mortality rate in Guyana has decreased by 1.3% over the last 13 years. In 1990, the maternal mortality rate was 49 per 10,000 births; and in 2005 it decreased to 10 per 10,000 births. In 2000 the infant mortality rate decreased to 29.0 for every 1000 live births, compared to 120 for every 1000 live births in 1991.
A healthy nation is predicated on higher labour productivity, higher rates of domestic and foreign investment, improved human capital, higher rates of national savings and demographic changes.  In order to establish a good health care system, it is important that both Governmental and Non-governmental organisations work together to provide health care services to the citizens, especially the poor, and also work to implement proper policies to promote proper health care.
Marissa Lowden

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