Guyana’s population is currently being faced with an outrageous amount of cases in cardiac diseases; this being listed as one of the leading causes of deaths among its citizens.
This was revealed by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence during a presentation on Thursday on the importance of cardiac health.
The Minister noted that despite the fact that Guyana is a small country, there are a substantial number of cases and deaths being recorded as a result of cardiac diseases.
“For us in the health sector, cardiac disease is one of the challenges and today the
Some of the creators of the video with public health officials and Ministers Volda Lawrence and Cathy Highes
statistics are very alarming for such a small populated country. We have noted that cardiovascular deaths account for some 32 per cent nationally and an estimated 22 per cent is living with cardiovascular diseases,” the Minster stated.
She highlighted that this arises from the fact that Guyanese tend to pay very little attention to their symptoms and other health related issues.
“The general tendency of Guyana is not to pay much attention to [the] health aspect unless someone close to us is affected. On the other hand also, we take too much for granted.”
However, the Health Minister noted that regular checks must be made which will result in the prevention of these alarming cases of heart attacks.
“We’re learning to appreciate that the outside does not mean that the inside is the same. We have to ensure that we do what is necessary to by checking with our community health centres to ensure that we are on the right track,” Lawrence related.
To address this issue, the Public Health Ministry has collaborated with the Canadian High Commission and the Guyana Programme for Advance Cardiac Care (GPACC) to educate the population through public service announcements.
Seven short videos were produced by representatives of GPACC which targets a different aspect of addressing cardiac arrest.
“The release of these videos will greatly assist us in supporting this campaign of heightening awareness at all levels in every region so that measures can be put in place to help decrease the mobility and mortality of coronary heart diseases in Guyana,” the Minister told the gathering.
Meanwhile, counselor attached to the Canadian High Commission, Jan Sheltinga explained that the most effective way of tackling this problem is through education since many are unaware of the magnitudes which surround cardiac arrests and other cardiac diseases.
Currently, health and well-being is third on the list of developing sustainable development goals.
“We will only achieve the sustainable development goal if we continue to achieve the progress in providing access to safe, reliable and high-quality services and information so that persons can be better cared for and that will allow them to care for themselves,” Sheltinga explained.
With these implementations, the Ministry and its collaborators are hoping that Guyanese will make greater strides to seek medical attention when the need arises. This will assist in the decrease of the high rates of cardiovascular deaths.
