CMO Dr Shamdeo Persaud proceeds on pre-retirement leave

Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud has proceeded on pre-retirement leave.

This was indicated in an internal memo, dated October 1, 2020, that was seen by Guyana Times. It was sent by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Collette Adams, to the various Heads of Departments and Directors within the Ministry and copied to Public Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony.
According to the memo, Dr Narine Singh has been identified to perform the duties of Chief Medical Officer, effective from October 1.
Dr Singh served as the Director of Regional Health Services for Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).
Dr Persaud will turn 55 on October 21, 2020. During his tenure as Chief Medical Officer, he had been involved in and led many programmes and strategies in the health sector.

Dr Persaud was amongst the first batch of medical students at the University of Guyana and after graduating in 1992, he obtained his Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of the West Indies.
Upon his return to Guyana, Dr Persaud worked at the Georgetown Public Hospital as a Government Medical Officer, where he developed a passion for medical research.
During the 1992/3 cholera outbreak, he responded to a request from Government for medical workers to volunteer in Region One (Barima-Waini) where there were no medical officers. After the outbreak, Dr Persaud was appointed as the Regional Health Officer there – marking the beginning of a 20-plus year career in the public health sector.
He then spent several years working in the area of Tuberculosis.
In 1994, he was appointed as a Tuberculosis (TB) Control Officer at the West Demerara Regional Hospital after which he was a Medical Officer of Health in the Department of TB in 1996 and then in 2002, he became an Epidemiologist for the elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis in 2002 and introduced the Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) programme.
Dr Persaud then completed his Masters at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. When he returned to Guyana, he was appointed the National Epidemiologist in the Department on Communicable Diseases and subsequently assumed the role of Chief Medical Officer.
This change over in the management of the health sector comes at a time when the public health system is grappling and overburdened with increasing cases from the COVID-19. This is compounded by the widespread protest actions by nurses and other healthcare workers from within the public health system. (G8)