Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence on Tuesday accepted some million in medical equipment and supplies from the Government of China to help in the fight against Zika and other infectious diseases.
The equipment will be used in the Reference Laboratory of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
“I want to thank the Chinese Embassy and the people of China for the continued support in the medical field and look forward to other support for the Reference Laboratory,” Lawrence is quoted in a press statement as saying following the signing ceremony at the GPHC.
Minister Volda Lawrene and Chinese Embassy official shake hands following the signing ceremony
“We are glad to do something in the public health sector for the Guyanese people,” Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Shen Huiyong of the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown in response to Lawrence’s address.
The equipment included two centrifuges, a PCR machine and a laptop which will support testing for new and emerging infectious diseases locally.
The instruments are accompanied by the appropriate testing supplies including reagents. The vector control services will be boosted with mosquito traps and knapsack manual sprayers to support prevention and control activities.
A team of Chinese specialist comprising Dr Yanping Zhang, Dr Yongjun Jiao, Dr Zhifeng Li and Dr Ye Tian, has been on a one-month stay in Guyana working with the vector control, Reference Laboratory and the surveillance and epidemiology units to support the prevention and control measures in response to the Zika virus.
The team also conducted training sessions with hospital staff. Some areas of training included the use of MapInfo to show the distribution of disease cases and the density of the mosquito vector. Vector control staff was also coursed in calculating the Breteau Index a measure of disease risk based on the density of the vector in a particular area, as well as identifying mosquito species throughout the life cycle stages.
The laboratory staff was supported in testing of samples for the Zika virus.
During their stay Guyana, the medical team also visited several health facilities in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
