10.9 per cent of National Budget allocated to Health

Jan 30, 2016 News

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Government is aiming to plug as much as $28 billion or 10.9 percent of this year’s national budget into the delivery of health care. The budget as announced by Finance Minister, Mr. Winston Jordan, in the National Assembly yesterday is $230 billion.
In his budget presentation, yesterday, he declared that prioritizing investments in health is a key input towards achieving human resource productivity which is an essential element for sustainable development.
Affirming Government’s commitment to ensure that the people of Guyana are among the healthiest in the Caribbean and the Americas, Jordan noted that strategic investments will be made in the health sector as it embarks on implementing Health Vision 2020.
Health Vision 2020 is the strategic plan that is being embraced by the health sector to improve the delivery of health care.
Last year a sum of $22.1 billion or 9.5 percent of the budget was expended in the health sector. But these efforts could at times be undermined by some developments. “As a nation, we are traumatised by the high incidence of suicide.
“We are alarmed by the number of maternal and infant deaths, many of them avoidable. We are concerned about the lack of attention paid by many of our citizenry to adopting a healthy lifestyle, in the face of chronic non-communicable diseases.  We are acutely aware of the recent emerging and now present threat of the H1N1 and Zika viruses, among others.”
“Together, these place undue burdens on our health care system, which is already stretched in the effort to deliver universal health coverage and attain our targets within Goal Three of the Sustainable Development Goals,” the Finance Minister underscored.
Deliberating on the country’s suicide situation, Jordan considered that it is one that driven by multi-dimensional factors and therefore can only be solved through a multi-stakeholder approach.
He made reference to Government’s decision to mount a commission of inquiry and to develop an emergency suicide prevention plan of action, even as efforts are made to conduct research and gather data to establish a baseline for monitoring and evaluation.
Data collection and research, in this regard, he noted, will include gathering epidemiological data, demographic information and research on driving factors contributing to designated rates per region.
He said that analysis will be done at the regional and country level, including maps and profiles for targeted interventions.
“We will also train secondary school teachers and students to be able to identify those at risk for self-harm. Further, we are advanced in preparatory work for the introduction of a psychiatry programme at the University of Guyana, and this year, we will establish a mental health secretariat to offer training and services to both professionals and those seeking mental health services,” added the Finance Minister.
But even as keen attention is being focused on suicide, Jordan noted that improving maternal health is also very prominent on Government’s agenda. He therefore asserted yesterday that “it is the firm belief of this Government that no woman should die giving birth. To give meaning to this belief, the Government will devote additional resources towards the expansion, rehabilitation, maintenance and equipping of maternal and child health facilities countrywide.”
Government has this year earmarked over $89 million for the expansion of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) maternity unit.
Additionally, this year’s allocation will facilitate the purchase of equipment such as table-top foetal heart rate monitors, handheld foetal heart monitors and portable ultrasound machines, with the aim of increasing the quality of service being offered at the institution’s maternal and child care facility.
Speaking to the issue of chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, the Finance Minister noted that hypertension, diabetes and cancer have become too familiar in “our day-to-day jargon.”
“These and other chronic non-communicable diseases have taken their toll on individual lives, families, communities and our nation.  We, as individuals, must become more responsible for managing our own health outcomes, even as Government invests in drugs, medical supplies, equipment and facilities to meet the growing demand for services in this area.”
Improving the delivery of health care this year, he added, will also see Government focusing on a drug shortage situation that exists in public health facilities. This, the Finance Minister said, reflects a myriad of management and procurement issues that are receiving the urgent attention of the Administration.
More than $6.5 billion has been budgeted for drugs and related consumable medical supplies, to address the expanding range of services and coverage being given to citizens across Guyana.
Last year, over $770 million was spent on the construction, upgrade, expansion and maintenance of health care facilities nationwide. This year’s allocation, according to Minister Jordan, is a massive $1.9 billion, which includes mobilization for the construction of the state-of-the-art specialty surgical hospital at Liliendaal; a 10-bed cardiac theatre and intensive care unit at the GPHC; various works at hospitals at Port Kaituma, Kwakwani and Linden; and diagnostic centres at Diamond and Leonora.
Additionally, over $1 billion will be spent on the purchase and maintenance of medical equipment, double the allocation of last year. Preparatory works will begin on the modernization of primary health care facilities at Bartica, Suddie and West Demerara Regional Hospitals, funding for which will be sourced from India, according to the Finance Minister.

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