Guyana pursuing global strategy to improve women and adolescent Health

Jun 11, 2017 News

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Guyana is adopting the 15-year global blueprint on women, child and adolescent health which protects their physical and mental well-being and opens up economic and social opportunities, according to Director of Maternal Child

Health (MCH) Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton.
The universal strategy with a 2030 windup focuses on nine core areas, viz country leadership; health systems resilience; community engagement; humanitarian and fragile settings; accountability for results; resource and rights; financing for health; individual potential; multi-sectoral action and research and innovation.
The covenant targeting women, children and adolescents was scrutinised at the recently-held United Nations (UN) Secretary General Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health 2016-2030, convened in Bridgetown, Barbados
Dr. Hamilton, who is attached to the Public Health Ministry, Ms. Lolitta Rebeiro, Senior Medex, attached to the Regional Health Services (RHS) Department and Dr. Janice Woolford, Specialist Family and Community Health of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Guyana office, represented Guyana at the forum.
The two-day consultation which opened on June 1, last, was organised by the Regional Coordinating Mechanism for the adaptation of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health to the Latin American and Caribbean context.
The Mechanism comprises the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); the World Bank; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) and United Nations Secretariat for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The strategy envisions a world in which every woman, child and adolescent in every setting, enjoys the rights to physical and mental health and well-being, has access to social and economic opportunities and is able to participate fully in shaping sustainable and prosperous societies.
The Bridgetown sub-regional consultation was aimed at building synergies for the implementation framework which wants to end preventable deaths while simultaneously achieving health and well-being of women for the target group.
The forum also eyed expanding the enabling environments for this grouping to thrive utilising three key objectives: Survival by ending preventable deaths; Thriving: via ensuring health and well-being and Transformation by expanding all enabling environments.
Dr. Hamilton said the Ministry will be looking at the broad aspect of survive, thrive and transform so that no woman, adolescent or child is at risk of preventable death.
She noted that the rights-based approach is of vital importance to Guyana and adapting this principle to the context of the Caribbean is imperative in maintaining a healthy population.
“Guyana will be looking closely at the multi-sectoral approach to women, children and adolescents which is very important as well as the community based platform.
The IDB funding that we have is going to support the beginning of the preview which will focus primarily on reproductive health,” Dr. Hamilton said.
She said this means that the Ministry is looking at improving the life expectancy and quality of life of the beneficiaries and reducing the burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on them.
Guyana continues to face the challenge of reducing its maternal mortality ratio, its neonatal mortality ratio as well as its fertility rate for the adolescent population. These threaten the medical system and also have grave social implications which can translate to negative economic growth for the country.
A glance at the Ministry’s budget indicates that chronic NCDs continue to get the largest chunk of the annual budget because most unhealthy habits are developed during the adolescent years. Focusing on it can help reverse poor choices by this group.
A UNICEF study on Guyanese women and children show that those of indigenous origin continue to be most vulnerable.
Consequently, PAHO/WHO has teamed up with other regional partners to fine tune the coordinated and integrated approach with a key plank being the consensus to transition an existing interagency mechanism called “A Promise Renewal for the Americans” (APR-LAC), into the regional interagency coordinating mechanisms for the adaptation and implementation of the Global Strategy in the Americas.
At the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, a new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030) was launched. This strategy based on the achievement of the 2010 “Every Woman Every Child” movement and Strategy, highlights the need to put women, children and adolescents at the center of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This strategy draws the road map not only for the survival of the target group but also to ensure that they are given the opportunity to thrive by having the conditions/environment available to do so.
The sub regional consultation saw the participation of representatives from various public health institutions; the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and civil society from 18 Caribbean countries and Latin America. Also in attendance were First Lady of Trinidad, Reema Carmona, and Kim Simplis Barrow, spouse of the Belize Prime Minister.

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