Brazil donates 10,000 units of MMR Vaccine to Guyana

Brazilian Ambassador to Guyana, Lineu Pupo de Paula handed over a quantity of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) Vaccine to the Public Health Ministry on behalf of his government on Tuesday.

Receiving the donation were Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence; Director of Family Healthcare Services, Dr Ertenesia Hamilton and Focal Point for Adolescent Health, Dr Oneka Scott.
A total of 10,000 units were received to aid in the continued fight against the MMR viruses. The Brazilian Ambassador noted, “This is the second donation that Brazil is offering for the Ministry of Health this year.”
Earlier in 2017, Brazil and PAHO/WHO donated drugs to help counteract Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease found in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Ambassador Pupo de Paula said, “It is in our interest to help to vaccinate children and everybody…This just shows how good the relationship between the two countries is going.”
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Minister Lawrence welcomed the Brazilian Government’s gesture, noting that the vaccines acquired would go directly towards ‘cross border vaccination activities’.
“We do have a lot of persons traversing through Guyana, whether they are coming here to find work or to invest or whether they are using here as a ‘jump off’ point to some other neighbouring country,” the Minister explained.
She alluded to the fact that there were outbreaks of the MMR viruses in neighbouring countries. However, she noted that through efforts by these countries and Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), initiatives were put in place to prevent the spread of such viruses.
Although these outbreaks did not affect Guyana in any significant way, Minister Lawrence emphasised that the vaccines acquired would “ensure that we have a stockpile of vaccines…We have a vaccination programme in Guyana, we are catering for that through our budget and through some of our partners”.
Further, she added, “because of the high incidence of persons going back and forth — Brazilians, Surinamese, Venezuelans and so on, this boost will help us to take off that excess and ensure that we always have, to be able to help our sisters and brothers from the neighbouring states.”
The adult population will be primarily targeted. Public Health Ministry Director of the Family HealthCare Services, Dr Ertenesia Hamilton detailed, “Some of our adults are still at risk because they would have not benefited .… So this donation will be aiding in improving the immunisation of our adult population, and those persons, who would have not been caught in the normal immunisation programmes.”
More specifically, it was further explained that the adult population in Regions One, Two, Seven, Eight and Nine (regions sharing borders with Venezuela and Brazil) would be the first to access vaccines from this donation. “Also, we try to immunise all of our officers who are first responders such as Port Health Officers, our Immigration Officers, our Police and our soldiers,” Dr Hamilton stated.