NGO donates $40M in medical supplies, equipment to Public Health Ministry
By Rennella Bourne
Hope for the Nation Foundation, a new local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), on Thursday donated
The medical supplies and equipment to the Public Health Ministry
$40 million in medical supplies and equipment to the Public Health Ministry.
Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings, expressed her gratitude to the NGO for its generous donation to the health sector, and noted the supplies and equipment would definitely go a long way.
The handing-over ceremony was done at the Ministry’s bond at Diamond, East Coast Demerara.
According to Cummings, “continuously improving the quality of healthcare services nationally is a task which cannot be undertaken solely by the Government of Guyana. As such, we welcome the support provided by partners such as the Hope for the Nation Foundation.”
Among the items donated were beds, support rails, nasoenteric feeding tubes, syringes, paediatric manual resuscitators, commodes and fluid dispensing connectors.
“The Ministry of Public Health, under the current Administration, is committed to ensuring that health needs of all its citizens are met. The Guyana Government is eternally grateful for your support and we at the Ministry of Public Health are very enthusiastic about this donation,” Dr Cummings said.
She applauded Hope for the Nation Foundation for the efforts towards developing the health sector in Guyana. “I am pleased that the Foundation’s main areas that they choose to focus on are promoting health and fighting diseases.”
The Foundation President, Dr Abdel Bari related his optimism to work with the health and other social sectors of Guyana.
Dr Bari disclosed that the idea to do something for Guyana was long in mind, but “about a year and something, specifically in May, we had some Guyanese come from North America. Guyanese who came during the [Independence] celebration were met and the idea was finalised of doing something for Guyana here”.
He continued: “We get together with the guys from Cross International which is the largest donor foundation in North America. Basic areas that they are willing to work on are the needy, the less fortunate, medical, help of the poor and the disadvantage for women and children.”
According to Dr Bari, they had done some research and found Guyana to be one of the top countries which should be receiving help from Cross International. As such, the Hope for the Nation Foundation was formed.
The objective of the Foundation is to work with Government and other NGOs along with religious bodies, women’s organisations, organisations for the differently abled and the educational system.
It is also aiming to help Amerindian villages. “We plan to take to the Amerindian villages, tarpaulin and shovels also basic things that they can use which would enable them to be independent. The scope is very big for Hope for the Nation Foundation,” Dr Bari said.
Public Health Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Colette Adams, noted, “The Hope Foundation is one of the many foundations that have stepped forward and assisted us and we are grateful to them for their assistance.”
