Venezuelan migrants can challenge Guyana’s health-care system – CMO

…says preventative measures being identified

The inflow of Venezuelan migrants into Guyana seeking refuge from the economic crisis in their country has resulted in amplified initiatives by the Public Health Ministry to expand its vaccine programme, to reduce the possibility of a disease epidemic.

This is according to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Shamdeo Persaud on Wednesday, who disclosed that the migrants brought a number of challenges and this must be examined before the situation escalated into a crisis. According to him, such can challenge a country’s health-care system, so preventative measures are being identified.
These include the introduction of a vaccination system to prevent the contraction of some diseases, such as measles and polio.
“We have this current ongoing situation with the new migrants to Guyana and the challenges they bring. We have been focused to look at the vaccine-preventable diseases because in most crisis situations, those diseases plummet to the top of the agenda and they can be the ones to really challenge a health-care system. Things like measles, outbreaks of polio, diarrheal diseases, and so on,” he said.
Persaud related that reports surfaced of a child who was denied medical assistance because of his nationality. He stated that such an incident should not occur in the future, urging medical practitioners to handle such cases with caution.
“We have been working on a plan to expand our immunisation programme. We really need to ensure that our visitors, guests, and new migrants have access to our services. We should not be hearing reports as we did in the past week of persons being turned away from our facilities because they are Venezuelans. We had a child being turned away from a principal health facility and the impression I get is that we’re not quite familiar with the policies…with regard to how we handle these persons,” the CMO stated.

He also related that among those seeking refuge were elderly persons who were suffering from chronic diseases and a few cases of cancer. As such, provisions are being made for them to access equitable healthcare.
“I noticed that among the persons that were coming in, there were several elderly persons that are also coming in with chronic diseases and at least two cases of cancer.”
Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that 5123 documented Venezuelan migrants in Guyana were recorded, with approximately 150 children in Region One (Barima-Waini).
Thousands of Venezuelans have been fleeing the Spanish-speaking nation in light of the growing social, political, and economic crisis under the Nicolás Maduro Government. Many of them have been coming into neighbouring Guyana while others have dispersed to other countries within the region.
Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge had stated that the possibility of these persons being diagnosed with diseases posed a danger to the general public.
Meanwhile, just a few days ago, Indigenous leaders from hinterland communities called for increased security in border communities, since the arrival of the Venezuelans has been affecting their villages. The issues surround cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and surges in criminal activities.
Arau Village representative Devroy Thomas had related while the village leaders understand the need to lend support, the issue has become very complicated, since these migrants are bringing with them bad practices which could corrupt the villages.