Rehabilitation services in the country have suffered setbacks in previous years and still face challenges, but the new strategy which covers the period 2009-2013 is expected to significantly impact on the delivery and quality of services.
Barbara Lawrence, Director of Rehabilitation Services, said yesterday that the overall objective of the strategy is to prevent disabilities and to increase the quality of life of persons living with disabilities. She referred to the Disability Bill in Parliament saying the legislation will complement the strategy and help to strengthen as well as expand the services currently available.
Lawrence, who is frequently recognized for her firm advocacy on issue, said the strategy sets out plans for providing and delivering equitable access to high quality and consumer-friendly disability and rehabilitation services in the country. She noted that it covers all dimensions of disability and rehabilitation services provided in the country by public, private and voluntary services.
A key objective of the strategy is to strengthen and expand the coordinated and multi-sectoral approach to disability and rehabilitation issues while ensuring the continued development of services. The focus is also on expanding access to services, Lawrence added.
The strategy, which was released yesterday, found that there is a good human resource capacity in rehabilitation services offered in central locations, but at the regional level there is a paucity of skilled personnel which is compounded by the need to deal with a variety of impairments and disabilities. Further, it disclosed that the rehabilitation is seen to be too dependent on overseas personnel/competencies for the provision of certain technical services such as speech and occupational therapy.
Lawrence said also that the strategy will address the lack of timely, accessible and reliable data and information on disabilities and on persons living with disabilities. The strategy made mention of this pointing out that the state of the health information system proved to be a deterrent to the planning and decision-making processes at the central and regional levels of service. The strategy also pointed to a dire need for data collection systems to be put in place to facilitate data/statistical analysis for planning and management purposes.
According to Lawrence, it is beyond the institutional capacity of any single agency in the health sector to successfully provide rehabilitation services on a sustainable basis and she called for a multi-sector strategy approach. She said further that there is a need for the enhancement and integration of rehabilitation services into the primary health care system given the incidence and prevalence of non-chronic communicable diseases, HIV/AIDS and the potential risk for disability.
Minister within the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran pointed to the investment in rehabilitation services saying it has increased within the past two years. He said new facilities were built, admitting that in some instances, the accommodations were not ideal for persons living with disabilities.
He said seven new physiotherapists have been added to the health care system, adding that the training was essential. He called the addition of the physiotherapists a major step forward for the sector. He said also that the government has been paying quiet attention to rehabilitation services, noting that in September, a Rehabilitation Sciences degree will be introduced at the University of Guyana.
The minister added that the administration had placed rehabilitation services on its agenda, though some people may suggest otherwise. He called on stakeholders and the public at large to review the new strategy carefully and examine the progress that has been made in the area within the past few years.
Dr Kathleen Israel, PAHO/WHO representative, who spoke briefly before the minister, commented that the strategy is timely because the needs of people with disabilities have been on the back burner. Israel said a more holistic approach is needed to effectively address the issue and she called on stakeholders to have the necessary dialogue to move the process forward.
Israel said that all dimensions of the issue needs to be addressed and she referred to the strategy as offering persons living with disabilities social security.
