Minister of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, on Monday met the Women’s Miners Association (WMA) as part of efforts towards a strategic partnership with stakeholders.
A release yesterday from the Government Information Agency said that the WMA is one of the newest organisations representing women.
Ramsaran said that due to the increasing number of women in the mining areas, the ministry has sought the organisation’s support in becoming partners in nurturing health literacy in the hinterland and mining areas.
The minister noted that as the hinterland has been opening up, more women are finding themselves in remotely located areas, in order to earn a living. Consequently the Health Minister said that the ministry will be placing special emphasis on the well-being of women miners. “This is an additional extension of a strategic partnership that will help to educate the women miners on how to live healthy even as they carry on their mining activities”, he said, according to GINA.
He added that the ministry will be looking at the possibilities of training additional medical staffers to be placed at specific mining areas to provide educational programmes dealing with issues such as alcoholism, smoking, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and cervical cancer in addition to their usual medical services..
Broomes, according to GINA, welcomed the partnership. She said that the association is willing to have some of its members trained in such areas.
Broomes added that the organisation has a health unit and the partnership with the ministry will boost its capacity. She promised to help the ministry. “We volunteer to work with the ministry and its policy in the best interest of providing better health care to all”, she said, according to GINA.
Broomes also pledged to provide the ministry with suggestions on the areas in which they can improve health care. She pointed out that in 72 Mile, Region Seven; there is need for a cold storage facility, especially for vaccines and a radio set at the health centre.
