Expanded dental, ophthalmology services to bridge equity gaps

As efforts continue to enhance healthcare provision across the country, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday explained that an expansion of dental and ophthalmology services is currently on stream.
During the launch of the newest edition of the Family Health Manual, the Minister had remarked that many areas in the country still don’t have access to dental services, so the Health Ministry is actively working to close that gap.
“We had a number of persons who were located centrally at the Cheddi Jagan Dental School [in Georgetown], and what we’ve been doing now is to get those persons to go to different regions. We have a programme now where we have been decentralising [dental services],” Dr Anthony said.
He noted that, along with the relevant personnel, the Ministry is also ensuring the use of the right equipment across the country, such as functional dental chairs.
“Right now, we have very good service in most of the coastal regions, and we are now optimising it in the hinterland regions for dentistry,” Dr. Anthony has said.
The Health Minister also said that delivery of ophthalmology services is expanding, as the Ministry has been conducting more screening assessments by sending out mobile teams in areas where ophthalmologists are not available.
“In a lot of the interior locations, we have been sending out mobile teams to do the screening, and we make a list of the persons who need surgery. We bring them out and take them to [the National Ophthalmology Hospital in] Port Mourant, and then we take them back,” Dr Anthony has said.
“That programme has been working really well. I think a lot of people are very appreciative of the programme,” he added.
Additionally, the Ministry is continuing its Community Ophthalmology Programme which commenced last year in remote areas, and by which its officials worked with a team from Johns Hopkins University who piloted the use of “snap-on” lenses. Minister Anthony noted that through this simple innovation, persons could get their eyes tested and subsequently receive appropriate spectacles within minutes.
“Right now, more than 5000 persons would have benefitted from that (programme), and this project is going to continue this year,” Dr Anthony has said.