Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence along with staff off the Public Health Ministry and members of the Chinese delegation from Jiangsu Province
Guyana is exploring multiple areas of collaboration with China, particularly in traditional medicine.
A Chinese delegation from the Jiangsu Province paid a courtesy call on Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence to discuss the strengthening of the partnership between the two countries.
“Both countries, our peoples have emerged from the use of traditional medicine as the only medicine at one point in time that they had available to them, to now where we see Jiangsu Province has been able to master the game in traditional medicine and to offer it as an alternative to its people,” the Public Health Minister said as she welcomed the opportunities for Guyana to learn from Chinese doctors that are skilled in the field.
While noting that there were hurdles to overcome concerning the drafting of legislation and enacting policies to both facilitate and regulate traditional medicine use in Guyana, Minister Lawrence said it was a course of direction the Government would take.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Minister Lawrence also expressed that a partnership on traditional medicine would allow Guyanese a choice as they sought health-care services.
As Minister Lawrence welcomed the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Jiangsu Province and Guyana in the health-care sector, the emphasis was placed on the remarkable accomplishment of successive Chinese Medical Brigades in Guyana.
“We have had some sterling moments with the [Chinese] doctors who come to Guyana and who have offered services to thousands of Guyanese, and our people are healthier because of the investment of your doctors in Guyana,” Minister Lawrence proudly stated.
The Chinese team included doctors and Government officials. Speaking on behalf of the Chinese Government was Inspector of Foreign Affairs of Jiangsu Province, Xiqiang Huang.
The foreign affairs official suggested members of the 15th Chinese Medical Brigade have volunteer consultations with patients in Guyana to strengthen the level of service to Guyana. To this end, Inspector Huang extended an invitation to Minister Lawrence to visit Jiangsu Province to get a first-hand look at the public health sector in that region.
Last Wednesday, Guyana bid farewell to the 14th Chinese Medical Brigade. At that ceremony, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo highlighted the team’s outstanding contributions.
