“Knowledge is the health of the flesh, but ignorance is the sickness thereof,” is the theme under which the Ministry of Health and the Guyana Rastafari Council (GRC) yesterday hosted a conference to discuss a range of health issues.

The conference was held at the Splashmin’s Eco Resort, Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

It was attended by Rastafaris from across the country and a Ministry of Health press statement yesterday stated that Ras Simeon, President of the GRC, expressed his appreciation at the inclusion of the Council in addressing health issues and pointed out that the conference would have been the first time that members of the community would have met to discuss, recommend and maintain roles and issues relevant to safeguarding health.

Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy in his speech at the conference’s commencement said that the Ministry alone could not promote and accomplish good health for Guyana. He said it was only through the interacting and exchange of knowledge between all of the country’s health and health-related groups and learning how to properly use this information that this could be achieved.

Facilitator of the Conference, Bonita Harris yesterday said that the way of Rastafari is to have a balance of both spirituality/worship and material things and in this context described the conference as something of value.