A National Oversight Committee for Chronic Non Communicable Diseases (CNCD) was recently launched to combat diseases that account for more than 80% of the mortality rate in developing countries.
Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, in a press release, said the ministry launched the committee because the country continues to carry a huge burden because of CNCDs including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. The committee will co-ordinate and implement activities related to the National Strategic Plan for CNCDs and is responsible for public policy and advocacy, surveillance, health promotion and disease prevention as well as integrated management for CNCDs and risk factors. The health ministry said the committee will include stakeholders from the home affairs, education, human services and social security, culture, youth and sport and agriculture ministries. Other technical agencies and non-governmental organisations are also supporting the committee which Ramsammy will chair. It will be based at the health ministry. In his remarks Ramsammy said that Guyana has made important advances in health. The investment in health, he said, “is not merely being driven by a moral or ethical inclination. It is driven mostly by the realization that a healthy population is an essential prerequisite for economic growth. In short, it is development.” Ramsammy said “We know that an average of about 5,000 persons die each year in Guyana. On a daily basis, the communicable diseases dominate our attention.” The minister said the country continues to battle HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, diarrhoeal infections and, except for HIV, most of the deaths are due to CNCDs. Ramsammy said government spends about $1B for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. This estimate does not take into consideration the prevention efforts or the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes-related complications nor the cost of hospitalization the release said. A similar amount is likely to be spent on hypertension and even more on cardiovascular diseases. The minister said the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) does not include CNCDs and this creates a large void in the health sector response. This is why, he said, Guyana is among a group of countries lobbying the United Nations to have the CNCDs included as the ‘MDG Plus.’Meanwhile the ministry also launched ‘Guidelines to Manage Type 2 Diabetes’ at the ceremony. Ramsammy said this programme will be implemented at all public health facilities and will be used as the basis for the minimum level of care to be delivered at regional hospitals and at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
