The Radiation Bill and the Mental Health Protection and Promotion Bill, which were both tabled at the April 13 sitting of the National Assembly, are still being reviewed by special select committees, according to Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony.
Speaking about the bills during his COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Anthony said technical persons who understand the issues surrounding radiation have been added to the committee to provide advice on the proposed Radiation Bill.
Anthony noted that the bill seeks to establish international norms “and adopt them as national norms for Guyana in terms of how we do imaging and how we do these processes to treat cancer… we need to have the legislative framework so this bill provides for that legislative framework… we have been working very closely with the Atomic Energy Agency, they are promoting draft legislation across the world and we have been able to partner with them and get a lot of advice relating to this particular bill.”
Similarly, Anthony said the select committee has also sought advice from other institutions in order to make the Mental Health bill compatible with modern international practices.
“We have been able to work with a number of partners including the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization to make sure that the bill is consistent with international norms and practices and we have also worked with other institutions that advise us on the issues relating to mental health,” he explained.
“This bill updates our current legislation, our current legislation is from 1930… and many of the things that were in that particular legislation are no longer used in modern medical practice,” he noted.
