Region 1 health post boosts immunisation efforts

The White Water Health Post in Region One (Barima-Waini), has expanded its primary healthcare services within the community to not only its residents but to a number of Venezuelan migrants entering Guyana.
With an increased supply of drugs, vaccines and other medical supplies, health officers at the facility are now enabled to enhance their immunisation efforts to protect the local population from diseases and infections.
The health team includes a microscopist, and two Community Health Workers (CHW) while provisions are currently being made through a community development project to have a doctor within the area.
The influx of migrants has placed a demand on the health post to render both preventative and curative treatments for these minor illnesses and as such, residents should be safeguarded. This is according to the Community Health Worker, Orbin Domingo.
“Before we never had malaria cases but now we have two within our catchment area… White Water is generally a healthy community… so we are protecting them [migrants] as well,” Domingo said.
Domingo explained that the health facility serves as a checkpoint for migrants, as he added that medical staff work closely with border control officers to ensure that migrants entering the country, when the health post is closed, are located and immunised.
However, the staffers are being posed with challenges, with the most dominant being language barrier preventing effective communication when administering drugs or vaccines to migrants. But nevertheless, efforts are being made to cease same.
Since the first group of migrants entered Guyana, to date, there are more than 36,000 persons who have crossed the borders, most of them seeking healthcare. This has led to the public health officials increasing supplies of drugs, vaccines and medical supplies for health posts and centres in bordering communities.