Venezuelan child refugees treated for diarrhoea, skin rashes at Anabisi

Nov 23, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – Over the weekend, local health authorities were able to treat about 50 Venezuelan children who were found suffering from diarrhoea, skin rashes and other infections at Anabisi, Port Kaituma, Region One.

The intervention came following reports that a group of Amerindian migrants including children were found in poor health and some severely malnourished at Anabisi.
A team of Government officials subsequently rushed to the location on Saturday to provide needed medical care to the group.
According to the Office of Prime Minister on Saturday, the group may have migrated from neighbouring Venezuela.
Kaieteur News has since learnt that the migrants who are from the Warrau tribe, were found along the riverbank of Port Kaituma, in makeshift camps some 10 minutes away from where local residents reside.
“The Government of Guyana is aware of the Amerindian migrants at Anabisi, Port Kaituma, North West District and has been attending to the situation. It is suspected that dozens of Amerindians including children may have entered Guyanese territory from a neighbouring village in Venezuela in poor health and without food,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement noted.
Providing immediate medical care and food relief on Saturday were Ministers of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud and Amerindian Affairs’ Pauline Sukhai.
They were also joined by several doctors from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and the Port Kaituma Hospital.
Though it was reported in other sections of the media that the children were severely ill and dying of starvation, Minister Persaud has since refuted the claims to say no child was critical or starving as reported.
“We arrived at the Warrau settlement and found poor living conditions but no children dying of starvation as was portrayed by the media and on social media,” she shared in Facebook post.
The Minister explained in her post, that she along with Dr. Neil Samwaroo—a paediatrician at the GPHC—had examined the children and found cases of impetigo (skin rashes / infection), diarrhoeal diseases, conjunctivitis commonly known as ‘red eye’ and general flu symptoms and they were provided with the necessary medications.
She noted however, that four children with skin infections along with a neonate (newborn) with fever had to be referred to the Port Kaituma Hospital for treatment.
During the emergency intervention, the team provided food hampers along with safe drinking water.
Minister Anthony during his daily COVID-19 update yesterday said, while the children were treated for those illnesses, on Sunday when the medical team returned to the location, they were also able to detect cases of malaria among the adult population.
“On Sunday, the team saw 42 adults, and again we saw similar type of illnesses among the adults, in addition to which we were able to detect among the group, some cases of malaria and again, they were given treatment based on the medical condition they have,” he related.
The Minister during his interview clarified that there was no emergency medical cases, but some of the children that they attend to, were chronically malnourished.
Another observation, he highlighted, was that the group was living in an unhygienic environment.
“What we found generally in the camp is that it is very unhygienic because you have a lot of people living together, the team estimated that there are 198 persons, living in very close proximity and they are from 25 different families. So because of the unhygienic conditions, they are using the same water from the river, and they are using the river to wash and do other things there, the water is of no quality,” he added.
In response to this, the migrants were provided with ‘jerry cans’, which would allow them to filter the water, making it safer for them to use.
According to Dr. Anthony, discussions were also held on ways, which they can dispose of their garbage properly and areas where they can use to set up toilets.
In collaboration with the Region’s authorities, the Minister stated that a system has been put in place, which would allow the migrants to access the needed medical care at the Port Kaituma Hospital.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Regional Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (Region One), Brentnol Ashley, assured that his officers are working closely with the people at Anabisi, in ensuring that they receive the assistance they need.
He added that a number of foods hamper and safe water has been distributed to the people. According to Ashley, over the past months, his officials would have been distributing a number of items to migrants who have settled in the Region One area.
The Regional Chairman shared too that they are currently working on getting a water system in place for the persons in Anabisi.
Additionally, they are teaming up with stakeholders on ways they can get some of the migrants to be employed in the Region.
“We are working continuously to see how we can better the condition for the people at Anabisi,” he related.

 

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