A key food safety meeting got underway on Wednesday and is expected to yield an action plan.
A release from the Ministry of Health said that the five-day meeting is expected to access and build a veterinary public health laboratory and food safety laboratory capacity for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)-integrated surveillance.
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) launched the five-day strategic Coordination Meeting of the Main Actors of the National Food Control System of Guyana.
The meeting, being held at Cara Lodge Hotel is geared at providing technical support to the development of a tailored action plan for food safety.
Among those present at the forum are Dr Margarita Corrales, Food and Safety Coordinator attached to PANAFTOSA-PAHO; Dr Rainer Escalada, the Advisor of Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control attached to PAHO; Dr Ozaye Dodson, the Director of Veterinary Public Health Department; Zareefa Bacchus, Food Safety Coordinator attached to the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute and George Jarvis of the Guyana Food Safety Authority.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, during his feature address, said that the meeting will facilitate an assessment which will locate gaps and identify solutions.
“People will trust our food if they know we have strong systems to guarantee food safety and can withstand any external examination”, Anthony said.
