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Absence of Rehab Medicine programme at UG is disappointing – Dr Ramsammy

Jun 25, 2011 News

Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has expressed his disappointment with the apparent lack of will to establish a programme of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Guyana.
He made the observation while delivering the feature address at the formal opening of a new wing of the Cheshire Home for the severely disabled persons at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday.

Emphasising the need for the training of personnel to man facilities like the Cheshire Home, the Minister said that the time has come when all stakeholders should take stock of the lack of progress in this area.
Dr Ramsammy said that he is disappointed that after years of working to ensure that the University of Guyana has a training programme in rehabilitation medicine, there are still some difficulties in establishing it at UG.
“I am not quite sure whose fault it is. I didn’t come here to blame anyone, but I came here this morning for a special appeal to all concerned. We are absolutely lying to each other…because if we really care for our people, we will look at ourselves and admit and confess that we do not have the human resources to provide the services we say we want to provide.”
He said that with the lack of trained human resource in the area of caring for the disabled, Guyana must leave no stone unturned to grasp every opportunity to train persons whenever it presents itself.
The Minister expressed the hope of having properly trained personnel to meet the needs of disabled persons in every community in Guyana.
“I will say it even if it is the last thing I say as a Minister…the University of Guyana Rehab Medicine Programme is an imperative that this country ignored at very peril,” Dr. Ramsammy said.
This week has been designated Rehabilitation Week. Focus has been on the plight of the disabled.
“We must train our people. The staff of Cheshire Home must be trained in dealing with the diverse conditions that they have to deal with,” the Health Minister added.
According to Dr Ramsammy, the establishment of facilities such as Cheshire Home and special schools was a noble gesture, but the missing ingredient was staffing them with the qualified personnel.
He however went on to pay tribute to the staff of Cheshire Home who he said has been thriving even without the requisite training.
“Human resource was a neglected area, and continues to be a neglected area. And even without the kind of training I must say that the staff of the Cheshire Home is an outstanding example of what we can do when we care,” the Minister said.
Dr Ramsammy said that his dream is to see that every school in Guyana will be able to accommodate disabled children, because many persons will be trained to provide for the special needs of the disabled.
“It is unfair that the special needs classes are only available in certain parts of the country so that children from the vast majority of our communities cannot access special needs programmes.
“In some cases we have brought them out and placed them in dormitories and that’s great, it shows a country trying to do its best. But I believe that even with the resources we have today, we can accommodate many, many more children than we are doing.”
He said that with this kind of thinking, the administration was able to acquire a bus to transport members of the disabled community.
Dr Ramsammy said that while in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Services standards were established for homes for children, such as orphanages, his Ministry is working on establishing standards for homes for the disabled like Cheshire Home.

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