Guyana seeking to eliminate “Big 5” neglected infectious diseases by 2027

By the year 2027, Guyana will be working to eliminate five neglected infectious diseases that have been detected locally and continue to affect the population.
The Health Ministry in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) on Monday hosted an Infectious Disease National Action Plan stakeholder consultation, to cover the years 2022 to 2027.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony indicated that while the WHO had identified 20 diseases that need to be eliminated by the next decade, Guyana will be working on five: Filaria, Chagas, Leishmaniasis, Leprosy and Soil-transmitted Helminths.
“I believe that we’ll be able to resolve a lot of these problems in a faster time. Even this five-year duration that we have, I think we can do it much faster if we have that concentrated focus,” he announced.
With regard to filaria, the Ministry has been able to accomplish mass drug administration and is in the process of assessing whether their targets were accomplished in eliminating the disease. Care is also being offered for patients suffering with the illness.
Dr Anthony emphasised, “I’m hoping in the next three years or so, we can safely say that we have eradicated filaria from Guyana. That would be a worthy accomplishment because if you look at the history of filaria in Guyana, there have been many attempts and studies that were done but we have never gotten this close to eliminating filaria.”
Chagas is another neglected disease that Guyana has “its eyes on” to prevent patients from developing the chronic nature of the disease. The Health Minister placed his optimism that this disease can be eliminated since cases have been relatively low over the years.
“The absolute numbers are not quite large. It’s relatively small numbers we’re talking about but we have to put mechanisms in place to do early identification and to make sure that when we identify these people, that we can get them treatment…Once it becomes chronic, it affects people’s heart and a whole host of complications that you can have.”
Eliminating the disease entails breaking transmission and identifying the types of vectors in the country among other factors.
Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease caused by infection with Leishmania parasites and spread by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies, is also under the Ministry’s radar.
“It is, I think, still present in Guyana. Perhaps we’re not diagnosing it but I think between or near the border with Guyana and Brazil, we have been able to identify various cases. there are other pockets that we have in the country. Again, the absolute numbers are small and therefore if we really put our focus on these things, we would be able to eliminate them. That too, I have lot of confidence that we would get there before the decade is over,” Dr Anthony told stakeholders.
Similarly, the Ministry has made strides in eliminating leprosy at the national level. There are still regional pockets to work on at the regional level.
The fifth, soil-transmitted helminths – relating to intestinal worms that are transmitted through contaminated soil – is the most common and can impact especially children in areas where it is endemic.
The Health Minister added, “Among children, it can lead to retardation of growth, malnutrition, anaemia and we have the medication. We have them in our system. All we have to do is make sure that we deworm children at regular intervals to prevent the chronic effects of these diseases from taking hold.”
Apart from these diseases, he brought into focus the presence of dengue and snake bites; and the need for a robust programme to manage such cases. Over the coming days, stakeholders will work to craft a workable agenda that will assist the Ministry in achieving its five-year target.