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Infections driving up neonatal deaths – Health Minister

Aug 06, 2015 News

…Ministry working on reducing numbers
By Desilon Daniels
As the number of neonatal deaths in Guyana continues to alarm the nation, the Ministry of Public Health is working stridently on reducing the figures, Head of the Ministry, Dr. George Norton has said.
The Minister made the declaration during a recent interview with Kaieteur News.
According to Dr. Norton, the neonatal sector is just one area under review by the new administration.
He said that while strides had been made in the past with regards to neonatal deaths, further developments are underway. He opined that the high incidence of neonatal deaths in Guyana is an area which needed dire attention.
He said too that the high incidence was largely attributed to cases of infection.
“The amounts of babies that die per month are alarmingly high and most cases are because of infection, so we’ve got a lot of work to do in that area,” Dr. Norton said.
He explained that the Ministry needs to use all of its efforts to prevent and reduce infections in the neonatal units across Guyana.
“It is not only to identify where you have the infections taking place, but to find the bug that is actually causing the infection,” the Minister said.
He elaborated that this would entail taking conducting swabs before analysing them and eventually identifying the cultures and their sensitivities.
“So, you would know what the bugs growing there are and what antibiotics they are sensitive to,” he said. “To do that, you need for instance special cultures, special little materials to do that. We have to start concentrating on that,” he added.
Fortunately, he said, a Canadian-based paediatric organisation has been working along with the Guyana government to help in this area. Dr. Norton explained that the organisation, Guyana Help the Kids (GHTK), not only fosters postgraduate training in paediatrics, but also trains nurses in the neonatality units.
“I am impressed with what they’re doing and the plan is not only to have it there in the Georgetown Public Hospital but also in West Demerara, Suddie, Linden and New Amsterdam.”
Meanwhile, Minister Norton indicated that while changes are being made, the availability of trained personnel remained a huge impediment.
“That is why, for instance, in the West Demerara Hospital while you have incubators there, they are not being utilised because you don’t have the persons there to properly use them,” Norton said.
In Guyana, neonatal deaths account for about 50% of under-five mortality.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Guyana has already met the target of reducing under-five mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015, as part of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG). UNDP data shows that the under-five mortality rate in Guyana dropped from 120 per 1000 live births in 1991 to 15 per 1000 live births in 2008, resulting in early achievement of the MDG target.
This achievement was due to successful implementation of nutrition and maternal and child care initiatives, including programmes for comprehensive child immunization coverage, an integrated approach to child health and development and in HIV/AIDS, the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme, the UNDP said.

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