The Ministry of Health has embarked on outlining the steps to be taken for the implementation of the National Action Plan for Health Security under what has been tagged the ‘One Health Approach’.
According to a press release from the ministry, this commenced on Wednesday at a high-level meeting convened at the Cara Lodge Hotel to discuss the findings from the Guyana COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (P173916) last month.
The release shared that in November 2020, the World Bank approved US$7.5 million for Guyana’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Project to aid the country in combatting the pandemic and strengthening its health system. The project, the release said, focused on enhancing laboratory capacity, supporting screening and surveillance, improving contact tracing, equipping healthcare facilities for better treatment and care of COVID-19 patients, and preparing for the deployment of a safe and approved COVID-19 vaccine.
Subsequently, the ministry allocated some of the funds to collaborate with agencies such as the World Health Organisation/Pan American Health Organisation (WHO/PAHO), Ministry of Finance, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to implement a One Health agenda.
According to the Health Ministry, this agenda aims to prevent and better prepare for current and future health challenges at the human-animal-environment interface through collaboration and coordination across governance frameworks of human, animal, plant, and environmental health programmes.
At the recent meeting, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony noted that the ministry was flexible in adapting systems that aided in the support for enabling Guyana to effectively control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the release said. Additionally, he highlighted the ministry’s efforts in enhancing surveillance systems and conducting assessments for the One Health Agenda.
“We recognised that we also have to prepare a system for any new pandemic, and any new pandemic that will happen probably would be a jump from animals into a human population, and therefore we have to be able develop a system where we can detect viruses, whether it’s in an animal population or human population, so that we can see if there’s any connection. And that’s what we’re trying to build with our One Health initiative. Fortunately, we’ve had this grant under this project, and we have utilised the resources to be able to finish all the assessments, and we’re now finishing off the National Plan,” the release quoted the minister as saying.
Further, he shared that the ministry has partnered with Johns Hopkins University to develop an electronic database system that will be able to get timely information, the release said. Along with this, he said that the ministry has implemented telemedicine sites to also aid in real-time information.
Meanwhile, PAHO/WHO Country Representative Dr Luis Codina affirmed the commitment of his agency and the Ministry of Health to strengthen every aspect of agencies under the One Health approach, the release added.
It said that Senior Health Specialist for the World Bank Federica Secci, who was also present, highlighted that the project demonstrated remarkable flexibility in adapting to the evolving environment and addressing the country’s needs. She added that the primary goal of the project was to enhance public health preparedness and serve as a catalyst for change since it birthed the One Health initiative.
According to the release, among those present were UN Resident Coordinator in Guyana Yesim Oruc; FAO’s Oletta Williams; Advisor to the Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy and other representatives from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, World Bank, IICA, GLDA and FAO.
