PPP calls for external investigation into deaths of children at GPHC

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has also made the call for an external investigation into the deaths of the three children who all lost their lives while receiving cancer treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
According to the Party in a statement, parents have certain expectations when they place their children in the care of health-care institutions and they deserve answers.
Moreover, the PPP/C expressed its sincerest condolences to the families of six-year-old Corwin Edwards, six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca, and three-year-old Roshini Seegobin and urged the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)

to provide answers.
Mendonca was taken to the Paediatric Ward on January 3, where she was administered with an injection before undergoing treatment, but became unresponsive. She was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her face started to swell and she later succumbed.
During the same period which Mendonca was admitted, three-year-old Seegobin visited the said medical institution for cancer treatment, but after returning home, her condition deteriorated. The leukaemia patient usually received treatment at the Hospital.
Guyana Times understands that another child, Curwayne Edwards, also passed away during this period after undergoing similar treatment. The injections were allegedly administered through the children’s spinal cords. The use of the drug has reportedly since been discontinued.
Rights of the Child Commissioner, activist Nicole Cole had also expressed her view that an external investigation which includes representatives from recognised and relevant organisations was more in keeping with transparency than the Hospital investigating itself.
Following the concerns raised, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence said the Ministry has reached out to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) for

technical support in its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the passing of the three children. In a statement, at her Brickdam office, Minister Lawrence noted that technical support was sought from PAHO to support the process of openness and transparency.
Meanwhile, PPP also expressed condolences to the family of Mae’s Secondary School student, 15-year-old Vanica Schultz, who allegedly took her own life at the educational institution on Thursday last.
According to the Party, the incident underscores the need for greater vigilance so that support mechanisms can be in place and accessible at times when our children are faced with difficult choices.