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Dr Ramsammy slams PAHO, GAVI for ‘politicking’ over vaccines

Oct 08, 2009 News

Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, has called for the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) to resolve their issues as soon as possible so that pneumococus and rotavirus vaccines can be made available in Guyana.
Addressing a workshop for the management of childhood illnesses, at Regency Suites yesterday, Minister Ramsammy said that these vaccines are important to the development of children, since it prevents a lot of child deaths.
He explained that in Guyana, more than 50 per cent of child deaths are due to diahorrea and approximately 40 per cent are due to acute respiratory infections.
However, Minister Ramsammy explained that despite this serious issue, the quarrel between PAHO and GAVI has slowed accessibility to these two vaccines which can prevent the child deaths.
“It is unconscionable, it is not right, it is criminal that there is the availability of two vaccines that can reduce deaths due to diahorrea and pneumonia and it is not yet accessible by the vast majority of the children of the developing world.”
Dr. Ramsammy reiterated that it is not financial resources that restrict the vaccine, but it is politics that blocks the entire process.
Kaieteur News understands that PAHO holds the responsibility of purchasing these two vaccines collectively for the entire region, and GAVI has since negotiated for the price of the vaccines to be higher and wants Guyana to purchase directly from them.
However, this is not being done, and as such, Guyana has no access to the vaccines from GAVI.
“We have two important players who have increased accessibility and yet today part of the reason that access to pneumococus and rotavirus has been slowed, is because these two important organisations have political problems. They can’t solve some of the issues that we need to move on.”
The issue between GAVI and PAHO has been ongoing for the past year now, and in this regard, Dr. Ramsammy hopes that by the end of the week, the two partners can resolve the issue.
“Every child born anywhere in the world today has a right to pneumococus and rotavirus vaccines and has that right now, not tomorrow because tomorrow would be too late. And so I call on the world authorities to ensure that those vaccines become available with haste…remove the barriers that would make these vaccines accessible, because it is not about good feelings; it’s about the fact that maybe a child that would die tomorrow would have been alive, had we had that vaccine available,” Minister Ramsammy said.
Meanwhile, on the same vaccine issue, the Health Minister noted that the HPV vaccine is available, but is not yet accessible for mass introduction.
According to Minister Ramsammy, countries were told to build capacity first and then they would be given the vaccine.
“What capacity are you asking us to build? We have done it not in 2009; we did it in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004.
Guyana twice has been globally acknowledged for our coverage. We have history. Now you tell us to build capacity before you can introduce the vaccine? It is absolute nonsense,” the Health Minister said.

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