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Health sector collaborates with PAHO to beef up disaster preparedness
PAHO/WHO Representative, Adrianus Vlugman
Complacency is one of the worse attitudes as it relates to disaster preparedness.
This notion was emphasised Thursday by Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) Representative, Adrianus Vlugman, when a health sector disaster management workshop got underway at Cara Lodge, in the city.
The workshop which saw the attendance of health workers from various sections of the Health Ministry concluded on Friday.
“Disaster will happen, we can’t tell what or exactly when, but we do know that Guyana is prone to floods and my adage in disaster preparedness is failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” said Vlugman at the opening of the workshop. It is for this reason, he disclosed, that efforts are being made to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to prepare the health sector to have an adequate response to disaster should the need arise.
And according to Vlugman, a disaster plan is a continuous work in progress, thus will take on a national and regional approach.
He revealed that the two-day workshop was in fact the first in a series of workshops and would entail assimilation exercises to determine the effectiveness a planned health sector disaster preparedness strategy.
The workshop in session on Thursday.
But according to Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, the workshop comes merely as a continuation of the efforts of the local health sector in disaster preparedness. As such, he noted that the sector can feel some sense of pride as the history of disaster in Guyana has found a sector that has always been up to the task.
“We have always excelled at times of disaster in our country. One could argue that Guyana has been lucky in the sense that we have not had too many disasters to deal with. We have not had to endure the annual risks of hurricanes, and as far as I know, in our history we have not had to deal with earthquakes…”
Nonetheless, he noted that Guyana has had its fair share of disasters. And the mother of all disasters that stand out in most persons’ minds, according to the Minister, is the 2005 flood. However, he asserted that it was not the only flood that has impacted Guyana at a disaster level over the years.
“We have had floods historically to deal with, but as to the proportion of disasters, not too many floods come to mind. But I hope no one forgets the potential for disaster, for instance when we encountered twice during the Omai operations in Guyana with the cyanide leaks.”
History holds other incidences of disastrous flirtations for Guyana, according to the Minister who noted that luck should however not delude persons into a false sense of security.
According to him, the dangers of disasters always loom, as the greatest risk of disaster seems to be of a climatic nature thus causing local risks to multiply.
“Guyana is one of those countries that geographically are at a disadvantage when it comes to global warming and climate change.”
As such the minister stated his firm belief that the health sector is one of the sectors that can claim readiness in the area of disaster preparedness. However, he warned that chances must never be taken, as a mere plan on paper would be of no worth without assimilations exercises.
This, he asserted is an important part of the sector’s readiness.
“We have been a little too relaxed when it comes to the assimilation exercises and so I would urge that as we continue our training and preparations, as we continue to ensure that we are in a state of readiness at all times, that assimilation becomes part of that exercise.”
Ahead of the recent training health officials were tasked with identifying a number of priority areas which included staff capacity building, for intervention following a recent PAHO/WHO supported self assessment of Guyana’s health sector.
The assessment which provided a snapshot of the status of preparedness and mitigation in the sector, revealed the need to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry’s personnel and deliver disaster management programmes.
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