Govt effectively managing HIV, diabetes among other diseases – Health Minister

– 9000 persons living with HIV

– over 21,000 malaria cases recorded for 2023

– 66,000 receiving treatment for diabetes

The Government, through the Health Ministry, is effectively managing the different diseases and conditions being recorded throughout the country, via its menu of policies to address each respectively.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Friday updated the management and outcomes of several diseases at his year-end press conference.
There, he related that Guyana has recorded 21,729 cases of malaria this year, with close association of the mosquito-borne disease and gold mining activities.
It was shared that over 100,000 malaria tests were conducted, for which the Ministry will be employing strategies to reduce these figures in 2024.
“We have found that there is a very close association between malaria and gold mining. We have been working closely with the gold miners to make sure that we can reduce the cases, especially in the camp…We think by using this strategy, we will see a significant drop in the cases,” Dr Anthony outlined.
Additionally, the sector witnessed a spike in dengue cases but this has reduced dramatically. From 27,000 tests processed, 7859 cases surfaced with 1182 hospitalisations.

Diabetes
In terms of diabetes, the International Diabetic Federation has counted some 66,000 persons who are receiving treatment for the disease.
While this is being verified by the Health Ministry, Dr Anthony emphasised that this is a “major problem” in Guyana.
“We have updated the diabetes guidelines and we have done this in partnership with Mount Sinai, where we’re looking at better ways of diagnosing people. We have also looked at pre-diabetes, and persons who have risk factors, and if they don’t mitigate these risk factors. We want to help people to delay the onset of diabetes,” he outlined.
Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to complications. Apart from new guidelines, HBA1C testing has been rolled out at 46 medical facilities, along with the establishment of the comprehensive Diabetic Clinic at Lusignan, ECD. In 2023, 150 children were also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Cancers
With the upgrade of the Cancer Registry, data collection and accurate information are now at the disposal of the Ministry.
In 2023, breast cancer remains at the top of the list in the country, with 161 cases detected, or 17 per cent.
“This is something we have to work more on in terms of reducing this burden. One way of doing that is we have to encourage persons to get screened and get screened early. Our approach to this is getting people to come out and do mammograms,” the Minister added.
The Ministry is also sourcing mammogram machines for the New Amsterdam, Linden and West Demerara Regional Hospitals.
Cervical cancer comes in second at 102 cases or 11 per cent, followed by prostate cancer at 107 cases or 11 per cent. Cervical cancer can be effectively prevented through HPV vaccination.
Meanwhile, statistics show that 9000 persons are living with HIV in Guyana, of which 238 are new cases. Some 6558 individuals are on treatment. The Ministry now has capacity to conduct viral load testing to determine whether the treatment is leading to viral suppression.

Elimination
There are five infectious diseases which the Health Ministry has placed focus on for elimination by 2030. Amid campaigns and a mass drug administration, filaria cases are only endemic in two areas in the country, and the Ministry is confident is that elimination status will be achieved.
In the case of leprosy, 30 cases were recorded and prophylaxis has been offered to persons who have been in contact with infected individuals.
Meanwhile, only two cases of leishmaniasis were reported in 2023, and no case of Chagas.
These diseases are referred to by the World Health Organisation as neglected infections, owing to little attention paid over the years.
The Government Minister outlined, “One of the commitments we have made is that we want to see several infectious diseases eliminated from Guyana. In the past, we have worked on getting control of diseases but we’re now working on eliminating diseases…Of the 20 diseases that the WHO has identified, we have five of them and we want to make sure that we eliminate them before 2030.”
The health sector has recorded other positive outcomes throughout 2023. For example, Guyana is the first country in the Caribbean to kickstart a programme for Hepatitis C.
By 2030, the Ministry is aiming to control the prevalence of Tuberculosis. This year, 337 cases were recorded – a decline from 498 in 2019. (Rupa Seenaraine)