In need of constant due diligence
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period 2011 to 2013. During the same period, the under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) declined by 0.6 per cent. At the same time, life expectancy at birth has risen from 65.2 in 2011 to 66.2 in 2015.
Routine availability
The routine availability of the vaccination services shortly after birth might make people think little of the positive impact of the healthcare system. But the contribution to the nation’s development goes beyond saving lives from easily preventable causes. The health system has demonstrated that it is capable also of controlling the periodic eruption of noncommunicable diseases like malaria, Zika and Chikungunya. It is trying to make heart disease less fatal. It has been reported that the mortality rate caused by NCDs has declined by 35.5 per cent over the period 2010-15. There have therefore been notable improvements in the public health system of the country. In addition to these improvements, there has been progress in the overall capability of the healthcare system according to available statistics. The number of physicians per 10,000 persons increased by 6.2 per cent from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2016. The number of nurses per 10,000 of the population increased from 31.4 to 31.8 per cent in the first half of 2016, as more doctors, nurses and health officials were added to the public healthcare sector. A number of specialist doctors were also deployed to the remote hinterland areas. In addition, initiatives towards capacity building through the training of health workers were conducted through collaborative efforts to better equip our health care professionals.
However, despite these improvements, a number of challenges still exist. The organization faces overcrowding and work overload as a result of excess referrals and a lack of adequate staff. The system is missing the many specialty nurses and doctors that it needs. It lacks adequate equipment maintenance. These problems are however not limited solely to the GPHC, but to all public health care facilities. The matter of drug shortages, drug procurement shortfalls which seems to be receiving a considerable amount of attention lately, has seen few improvements.
Much more work Clearly, much more work still has to be done to improve the health care services received by Guyanese. The first step starts with recognizing that the problem is broader than medical intervention. It must include customer service coming from all parts of the delivery system. Until such time, the problems will continue. It is my view that with new leadership in place the desired progress will occur.