Workshop to effectively reduce communicable diseases begins

The Ministry of Health launched its Disease Elimination Initiative Roadmap workshop on Tuesday in a continued effort to minimise the spread of communicable diseases in the country.

The workshop which is in collaboration with the Pan-American Health Organisation\World Health Organisation (PAHO\WHO) will last for four days.

It is aimed at accelerating the ministry’s efforts to eliminate communicable diseases directly.

Speaking at the launch in the boardroom of the ministry’s head office, Brickdam, Georgetown, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony stressed that it is important for organisations to take different approaches to tackle these types of diseases.

He said the five neglected diseases which are leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, chagas, leishmaniasis, and soil-transmitted helminths (worms) will be targeted through the help of PAHO\WHO’s elimination agenda.

“Most of the programmes that we have, have to operate vertically. We can do some things in a very expeditious manner but if we are going to succeed and sustain these successes, then we have to integrate better procedures and this calls for a rethink of how the ministry has been doing its business,” Minister Anthony stated.

With a workshop of this nature, the minister said such changes can be made so that better programmes and policies can be implemented to aid in the faster elimination of communicable diseases.

“It is difficult for us to make that transformation, but we have to make that transformation if we are going to achieve the results that we would like to see. Therefore, these programmes that we have, we have to find ways and means of how we are going to integrate them,” the health minister posited.

The workshop will focus on different strategies such as treatment and counselling and see health workers being trained on how to minimise communicable diseases.

Also present at the launch were Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narine Singh; Programme Manager of National AIDS Programmes Secretariat, Dr Tariq Jagnarine; Director of Prevention Control and Elimination of Communicable Diseases Department (CDE) PAHO, Sylvain Aldighieri, among other representatives.