Non-surgical clubfoot correction, free hearing aids for PWDs

In enhancing care for persons with disabilities in Guyana, the Health Ministry has introduced free hearing aids and spectacles this year, along with human resource building to correct club foot.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Friday shared that along with several programmes to enhance care for persons with disabilities, the Ministry has made tangible strides in expanding access.
“We have been expanding access to rehabilitation services by training more people and ensuring that our centres across the country can now be equipped and have the right skill levels. In all the regions now, we have rehab centres.”
A sizeable sum has been used to procure assistive devices such as hearing aids, wheelchairs, and spectacles, for persons with physical disabilities.
While the Ministry was charging for hearing aids at a cost of about $65,000, this price tag has been removed. This complements the programme to deliver 4500 Snap-On spectacles to persons in remote communities.
“As of this year, we have removed the cost for those hearing aids so people can access them free of cost and already, we have distributed 500 hearing aids to people who need them…We’re targeting a lot of the hinterland communities where these services never existed before.”
Meanwhile, medical professionals are being trained to correct clubfoot through non-surgical procedures. Club foot is where a baby is born with a foot or feet that turn inward and under. It is caused by a shortened Achilles tendon but can be corrected at birth.
He divulged, “We are able to diagnose young children with club feet. This condition can be corrected with a non-surgical intervention. If the staff is properly trained, you can use Plaster of Paris to make the correction. So, we have started training this year on how to correct the non-surgical correction of club feet.”
The Ministry has also been working with stakeholders to address cases of joint replacement under another programme. This will prove life-changing for persons who are immobilised or confined to a wheelchair.
“We’re working with persons who have a need for prosthetic limbs. If you have an amputation, we’re working with those persons to get prosthetic limbs for them. Whether it is an arm or leg, we have been working with a number of people to do that. Next year, we’re hoping we can reduce the backlog for prosthetic devices,” Dr Anthony relayed.