Latest update April 17th, 2025 8:39 PM
GPHC records 44 neonatal deaths in one month— Health Minister says
…aims at reducing spate of neonatal deaths
Of the 562 babies born at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) last year August, 44 did not survive. The number of deaths in the identified period was recently deemed as “quite a large number” by Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.
He shared his conviction that, “In Guyana we have been plagued by
Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, addresses the recently trained nurses.
a high infant mortality rate.”
Based on data from the GPHC there were 6,179 deliveries last year of which 94 were still births.
Asserting that his attempts to single out the alarming number of infant deaths in August 2014, was not in any way to “score political points,” the Minister insisted that his intent was however to send a message that “There is a lot of work for us to do.”
The Minister’s remarks were made on Thursday when he addressed a gathering of nurses, at the Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, Project Dawn facility. The nurses had recently completed training aimed at helping them to reduce neonatal deaths.
The training based on the ‘Helping Babies Breathe’ programme model was facilitated by medical experts attached to Bridges Medical Mission, a not for profit organization based in the United States.
Acknowledging that the training comes at an opportune time, Dr. Norton expressed optimism that during his tenure as Health Minister he will be able to see a marked decline in the infant mortality rate. “It’s like setting a target for myself and telling the Guyanese population that we have to do better and everything we do to prevent a baby from dying we must do with that desire of bettering our conditions that exist,” asserted the Minister.
He, however, observed that there are some infants who simply cannot be saved. “Sometimes you just can’t help it. Sometimes saving the babies is not viable but sometimes with a little help we can get perfect babies. This is why I am so impressed that you were exposed to this kind of training,” said the Minister to the nurses who he presented with certificates of completion on Thursday.
As part of the local public health sector’s efforts to tackle neonatal mortality, the Ministry is looking to incorporate more paediatricians and neonatologists into the system.
“We want intensivists in neonatology in terms of medical specialty but we also need nurses to work hand in hand with the specialty doctors,” he asserted.
This is particularly important, the Minister said. According to him, nurses are an important aspect to the delivery of health care. “As a physician I always say to the patients this is a team effort which includes the physicians, the nurses of course, the patients and their relatives,” said the Health Minister.
But according to him, with the added knowledge that the nurses would have gained through the recent training, “You might be the most important link in that chain in terms of health care givers who can save someone’s life.”
Even as he made reference to the fact that a number of the nurses trained were drawn from health facilities in outlying areas, the Minister expressed satisfaction that improved health care will not only be centered in Georgetown but other areas will also benefit.
“For some reason or the other we tend to concentrate on Georgetown…everything happens in Georgetown. If there is a fellowship to go abroad people are chosen from Georgetown but we are trying to change that now,” informed the Minister.
Just recently, a health worker from the Bartica Hospital in Region Seven was chosen to participate in an overseas fellowship which focused on Family Planning, Minister Norton noted. “In the past that person might have generally come from the Ministry of Health if not from the GPHC.”
According to the Minister, his Ministry is keen on working towards optimum equity in the delivery of health care.
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