Reg. 6 health sector trains 103
— Patient Care Assistants and Community Health Workers
DPI, Guyana, Monday, July 15, 2019
The local health sector will soon receive another boost following the completion of a six-month training programme. Fifty-eight Patient Care Assistants (PCAs) and forty-five Community Health Workers (CHWs) drawn from Regions 6 and 5 have enrolled in the course.
On Monday, the trainees participated in an orientation session at the Regional Health Services Building in Fort Canje, Berbice. During the induction session, they were briefed on the programme and attending expectations. The exercise which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health and the Regional Health Services in Region 6 will officially begin on July 22.
Programme Coordinator, Matron Barbra Grey, in her address, noted that “the concept of healthcare does not only speak of addressing the healthcare needs of patients, but it also refers to ensuring their holistic well-being. Therefore, Patient Care Assistants and Community Health Workers are very critical to the health sector.”
Alex Foster, the Focal Point Coordinator and advisor to the Minister of Public Health, Hon. Volda Lawrence observed that the PCAs and CHWs programme continues to attract several young persons from across all the regions. He reminded the trainees that the Public Health Ministry’s 2020 vision is to provide quality, safe and affordable health care services throughout the country, hence the need for programmes such as theirs to ensure there are enough qualified persons in the sector
Director of Regional Health Services, Region 6, Jevaughn Stephen remarked that the execution of the training programme in Region 6 demonstrates another step in the drive to improve the Health sector in the East Berbice-Corentyne area.