Guyana’s health sector has been allocated $28 billion in this year’s budget, an increase of nearly $6 billion from last year.
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, in his budget presentation yesterday, told the members of the National Assembly that $6.5 billion has been allocated for the procurement of drugs and other consumable medical supplies, $1.9 billion for infrastructural works, $1 billion for the purchase of medical equipment and $89 million for the expansion of the maternity unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Jordan highlighted recent concerns in the health sector. He noted that the nation is traumatised by the incidence of suicide; alarmed by the number of maternal and infant deaths many of which are avoidable; concerned about the lack of attention paid by many citizens to adopting a healthy lifestyle in the face of chronic non-communicable disease; and acutely aware of the recent emerging and present threats of H1N1 and Zika viruses.
“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 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated.
In response to these issues, the government has decided that “prioritising investments in health is a key input towards achieving human resource productivity – an essential element for sustainable development,” he added.
To address the high suicide rate, the government has decided to immediately mount a commission of inquiry and develop an emergency suicide prevention plan of action, even as it conducts research and gathers data to establish a baseline for monitoring and evaluation.
The minister noted that research will be geared towards crafting a profile of those persons who commit suicide in Guyana as well as identifying the drivers behind suicide. Additionally, 2016 will see the development of a mental health secretariat to offer training and services to both professionals and those seeking mental health services; the beginning of preparatory works for the introduction of a psychiatry programme at the University of Guyana and the training of teachers and students to be able to identify those who are at risk for self harm.
Minister Jordan did not state how much these measures are expected to cost.
Apart from the expansion of the GPHC maternity unit, spending in the sector will also “facilitate the purchase [for GPHC] of equipment such as table-top foetal heart rate monitors, handheld foetal heart monitors and portable ultrasound machines” all with the aim of increasing the quality of service being offered.
The allocation for the construction, upgrade, expansion and maintenance of health care facilities nationwide is expected to facilitate “mobilization for the construction of the state-of-the-art specialty surgical hospital at Liliendaal; a ten-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.”
Funding for preparatory works on the modernisation of primary health care facilities at Bartica, Suddie and West Demerara is expected to be sourced from India.
Minister Jordan said that the present drug shortages in public health facilities reflect a myriad of management and procurement issues which are “receiving the urgent attention of the administration.” He explained that the drugs procured under this year’s allocation are expected to “address the expanding range of services and coverage being given to citizens across the country…in the area of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer.
