Region One’s health sector implementing strategies to achieve targets
DPI, GUYANA, Wednesday, February 21, 2018
To ensure this year’s targets are achieved, Region One (Barima Waini)’s health sector is implementing indicators in its various programmes. This move will see improved performance in the delivery of healthcare services.
Regional Health Officer (RHO), for Region One, Dr. Cerdel Mc Watt.
In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Region’s Health Officer, Dr. Cerdel Mc Watt said each programme will have five indicators. “We want something that we can measure so that at the end of 2018 we can say that we have projected this and we would have achieved this and it’s not based on forecasting or assumptions where we say we had a good year, where we assume we had a reduction in chronic disease, maternal deaths or infant deaths.”
The RHO said the indicators are realistic and practical and will be monitored quarterly then half yearly to ensure that these are successfully met.
“For instance, one of our indicators is to reduce the incidence of anaemia among pregnant women. We would have looked at our present state and we asked that we reduce that by 20 percent. Of course, we set indicators that are reachable so we’ll monitor them then at the end of the year we’ll check and see how that has impacted our maternal and infant deaths.”
Briefly expounding on the sector’s 2017 performance, Dr. Mc Watt related that successes were seen in the improved management of infectious diseases such as gastroenteritis; implementation of various programmes including the adolescent and the men’s health club under the family health programme. Immunisation and the general spectrum of antenatal and neonatal care were also enhanced.
Meanwhile, other challenges include lack of transportation, inadequate staffing, difficulties in travelling to far-flung areas and the shortage of drugs and medical supply, particularly with the influx of 800-plus Venezuelans who sought care from the local health system. However, Dr. Mc Watt noted that there is still room for improvement and efforts are geared towards achieving this. The sum of $768.638M was allocated in the 2018 budget for the region’s health services.
By: Ranetta La Fleur