Drug shortages remain a major issue in Region 1 – Chairman

Region One (Barima-Waini) Chairman Brentol Ashley has said that the shortages of drugs, particularly those used for the treatment of malaria, are continuing to put a strain on health services in the region.
Ashley, during an interview with Guyana Times on Saturday, stated that due to the major drug shortage plaguing the community, the region has been suffering tremendously.
The Chairman added that even though monies were budgeted for the community’s medical supplies, there has not been any significant improvement in the provision of drugs and medical supplies over the years.
“The RDC, through its budgetary allocation, would have gotten $80 plus million dollars for drugs and medical supplies in this last year’s budget. To date, we have warranted over $25 million and they have not been supplied from MMU [Materials Management Unit] relating to what we would have warranted and also last year we would have warranted in excess of $70 million and the supply of drugs and medical supply for that wouldn’t have reached 50 per cent of what we would have warranted,” Ashley said.
“The region has for some time now been suffering shortages of drugs and medical supplies. With this happening, residents are left with no other choice but to resort to the GPHC,” he added.
He noted that the residents are losing confidence in the tender board since it is not functioning as supposed.
“The tender board is not competent in carrying out the works that it is intended to do in this region especially,” he said.
For instance, the Chairman stated that a toddler was recently bitten by a snake and was unable to receive medical attention from the community’s health center. As a result, the child had to be air dashed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she remains in a critical condition to date.
Further, Ashley noted that in many instances, the health facility is dependent on the “internal purchases” to keep the health center afloat.
On Friday, Guyana Times had reported that sources at the West Demerara Regional Hospital confirmed that many individuals, primarily senior citizens, were left with no choice but to leave the hospital without any medication since none was available.
Junior Public Health Minister Karen Cummings subsequently confirmed that there has been an increase in the number of complaints from hospitals across the country about shortages.
“We are putting those systems in place. Health is decentralised and the regions would warrant the money for us to buy in bulk. They keep back some money themselves, so that they would buy as the need arises. Guyana buys in small bulk when compared to metropolitan countries so we would have to wait our turn when they would have served the bigger countries.”
Dr Cummings stated that medical drug shortages were also caused because of the lengthy procedures at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), but efforts are being made to eliminate these setbacks.
“There is a process with the suppliers and it takes many months to go through the tender process and so we have been working assiduously.”

Venezuelans
While making reference to the influx of Venezuelans, Ashley also mentioned the shortage of food supplies and shelter.
In 2018, Ashley had disclosed that a large number of Venezuelan refugees are in Region One, staying in churches and makeshift tents with little to no belongings.
He had decried the lack of support from Central Government in providing assistance for not only returning Guyanese but also Venezuelan refugees, saying the region’s already small budget is being strained.
In response to the influx of returning migrants, Government has established a Multi-Sectoral Committee to coordinate the national response and assistance to these refugees.
Local public officers had undergone a one-day training on the international best practice in assisting migrants and protecting them from abuse and exploitation of any kind.