24h medical service being provided to Venezuelan refugees

Venezuelan refugees who have escaped the economic crisis in their country and are residing in Region One (Barima-Waini), Guyana, are being provided with 24-hour medical service.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Thursday, Region One Chairman Brentol Ashley explained that the initiative was made possible via collaboration with the Public Health Ministry, to send medical personnel at key areas. In this way, the refugees would be able to access basic healthcare facilities.
“The region would have been saddled with the responsibility to look after these persons and with the support from the Ministry of Public Health, we have health teams in five areas providing 24 hours of health services to persons,” said Ashley.
The Chairman noted that additional support was also given by providing fuel for the construction of camps and permanent housing structures for those who are envisioning the idea of making Guyana their home.
“We have been able to provide fuel and lubricants to several communities to cut materials to construct camps and in some cases to start helping those who are settling to have houses and clear the lands and so forth. We have also been helping them with janitorial.”
Guyana Times was informed that the number of persons has grown to over 600 and is slowly increasing. While the region has been experiencing good weather conditions so far, supplies have been easily distributed to the affected persons.
“We’re still having persons in the villages like Khan’s Hill and the others that are currently residing there. The number hasn’t increased significantly but it’s over 600 persons. We’ve not yet expected the bad weather so supplies are arriving just fine for the last few days. Supplies were supplied to Khan’s Hill, Kamwatta and

Whitewater.”
The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and Food For The Poor (FFTP) are presently distributing food supplies to the areas. However, other entities have made their contributions during the initial migration in July.
“We’ve been assisted by CDC and Food For The Poor. In the initial stage of it in July, we would’ve had assistance from Hand-In-Hand Insurance Company and also some public spirited citizens who would’ve donated clothing and so forth. [International Organisation for Migration] IOM would’ve helped with some non-food items to several of the communities,” said Ashley.
In July, it was reported that only about 268 refugees were present in the area after they would fled the initial food crisis but after the lack of basic amenities and health care, more persons sought refuge in Guyana.
In response to the influx of returning migrants, Government had also established a multi-sectoral committee to coordinate the national response and assistance to the Venezuelans. Local public officers also underwent a one-day training workshop on the international best practices to prepare them in assisting migrants and protecting them from abuse and exploitation.