BIG SISTER IS WATCHING

Oct 27, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
In the interest of news continuity, could some follow-up information be supplied to the readers regarding the demise of 17 year old Nikacia Allen, mother of three who died following a C Section on September 20 last? It has become vividly apparent that certain issues gain mention and readers’ attention in the newspaper ( Kaieteur News, October 21, 2015), , but follow-up is only given if the incident in question does not open the proverbial can of worms- which this case certainly does or falls under the whim and caprices of the newspaper reporting personnel. To additionally compound my concern and inquiry, I have also failed to read of any input from the present Minister of Public Health Mr. George Norton on this tragic incident. Even to the most visually impaired, cerebrally myopic, and not to mention humans operating within a sane mental range, the situation serves to further reflect the incompetence/ mismanagement of members of the populace where medical and or obstetrical care is concerned, especially as it pertains to our young. If you want to know how strong a country’s health system is, then the answer is found in looking at the well-being of its mothers.
One cannot help but ruefully view the interdisciplinary lack of communication on the part of Social Workers, Police, Nursing Staff, Hospital Administrators etc. who negligently allowed the crack to widen wherein more victims can fall. Plainly put, or frankly spoken, the death of a mother is the ultimate event that is the result of a complexity of human dynamics and the measures in which problems are dealt with. No, a maternal death is not attributable to medical conditions alone, but due in part also to the distance between services and the clients, social inequalities and dynamics. Maternal mortality never exists in isolation. The present system in Guyana is indicted on all counts.
According to the State of the World Population in a 2013 report, Guyana was recorded as having the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy, in both the Caribbean and South America. What a horrible statistic, one of which we should all hang our heads in collective shame. Notwithstanding the fact that there are two known big killers responsible for maternal mortality—post-partum haemorrhage and pre eclampsia, nevertheless the third big killer which seemingly Guyana has not yet fully and firmly grasped is family planning and reproductive health. Let it be known, and stand for the records that failing to grant readers and by extension the public at large, follow-up reports of incidents such as the case of Nikacia Allen will not make it go away but instead be reflective of other reporting concerns which at this point in time I will leave unwritten and unexpressed. Remember however, that Big Sister is watching you.
Yvonne Sam.

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