Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence yesterday signed Guyana’s third Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) with Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa Etienne.
According to a GINA press release, the implementation of the strategy will see PAHO providing technical cooperation with Guyana to address such priorities in the health sector as the strengthening of systems, the promotion of safe, resilient environments, reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases and the morbidity and mortality due to communicable diseases among others.
GINA quoted Etienne as saying that the CCS was “related to…our strategic plan for PAHO 2014 – 2019 which guides the technical cooperation of the organization. [It is] a strategic plan that is based in the sustainable development agenda and that has at its core equity, the fact that we want to leave no one behind. That therefore prioritises vulnerable… and marginalized populations…”
PAHO country representative Dr William Adu-Krow also regarded the CCS as a blueprint for PAHO, which will help the organisation to better collaborate with the Ministry of Public Health to meet the Health Vision 2020 goal, GINA said.
Lawrence noted that it will put the health sector and Guyana on a firmer footing to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health, the release said.
