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Universal primary health care by 2020 – Minister pledges
… as City municipality hosts Vaccination Week health fair
The provision of the best quality public health care and services to all people living in
Minister Karen Cummings addresses the gathering at the opening.
Guyana is not only important but it is a national priority. This was the assertion of Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, when she addressed a forum at City Hall yesterday.
“We want to make sure that we cover all people across the life cycle including children, pregnant mothers and the elderly…as a consequence strategic measures are being put in place to achieve universal primary health care by 2020,” Minister Cummings assured.
This, according to her, will be characterised by measures to reduce and ultimately remove the inequities of access to public health care on the coastland and the hinterland. Such efforts, the Minister emphasised, will ensure that the entire nation is getting the full attention of the Public Health Ministry.
“In an effort to reduce disparity in the screening rate and access to health information in spite of persistent social, economic and other barriers, the Ministry of Public Health continues to work to develop and sustain culturally competent health education and outreach intervention,” Minister Cummings noted.
A strategy that is being embraced by the Ministry to realise its goal is the implementation of community health fairs to bring needed health screenings and health information to low income and medically under-served communities through informal community settings, where a broad spectrum of community health services are offered.
A section of the audience.
Moreover, Minister Cummings, who was yesterday speaking at a health fair spearheaded by the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, said “we at the Ministry of Public Health applaud this initiative…that will provide much needed public health information and offer quality public health services.”
“It is indeed timely that this health fair is being held during this special week, as Guyana and other countries in the Americas are observing the 15th annual Vaccination Week,” said Minister Cummings as she dubbed yesterday health fair an “excellent opportunity.”
The health fair saw the participation of a number of organisations including the Public Health Ministry, Industrial Safety Supplies Inc., Colgate Palmolive [Guyana] Ltd, Massy Distribution, in addition to a several health-oriented departments of the municipality.
According to the Public Health Minister, fairs of such proportions serve an intrinsic purpose in providing much needed health information. In addition, they create the facilitation of public awareness regarding public health issues, Minister Cummings underscored, as she pointed out “we cannot overemphasise the value to be accrued from the public awareness generated at such events, which ultimately gives rise to a healthy people; healthy people make healthy communities, healthy communities make healthy regions and healthy regions will ultimately make a healthy Guyana.”
Scenes from yesterday’s health fair.
She continued, “We believe that such activities can effectively change the culture and the environment of communities in ways that support the pursuits of the constituents’ optimal potential and improve their overall health status.” In fact, she emphasised that the health fair is a demonstration of applied public health promotion in action “which is highly commendable and one that we applaud loudly and sincerely.”
Yesterday’s fair represented the first such venture hosted by the Georgetown municipality and according to City Mayor, Ms. Patricia Chase-Green, it is among the positive things that the Council has to offer to the citizens of the capital city.
“Whenever we hit the media, we hit it with negativity…these are the positive things that we have in the city, and we hope that after today’s visit of the fair, you can really appreciate the work of the Council,” said Chase-Green, as she shared with the audience the extensive work of the Council.
“We are responsible for you from the womb to the tomb,” Chase-Green highlighted as she spoke of the evolution of the services offered by the municipality to ensure that the city has healthy people living in a healthy environment.
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