In an effort to boost the country’s capacity to provide quality healthcare to patients, the United States Embassy yesterday donated US$112,000 worth of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health and to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
The presentation which was made through the Embassy’s Humanitarian Assistance Programme includes Intravenous (IV) stands, surgical instrument stands, surgical instruments and other items to benefit operating theatres, emergency rooms and admission rooms.
During a simple ceremony held at the Materials Management Unit (Diamond Bond), US Ambassador, Brent Hardt said that the medical equipment donated will support the Ministry’s goal of providing a higher standard of care for patients.
“The United States has enjoyed a close partnership with the Ministry of Health for many years, most significantly under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and through U.S contributions to the Global Fund,” the Ambassador said.
According to Ambassador Hardt, the Embassy’s partnership with the Health Ministry has had a positive impact on the country’s health system. “It has enhanced the country’s laboratory capacity, boosted its ability to store and distribute medicines, and strengthened management of broader health services.”
Hardt said that the contribution represents part of an extraordinary ongoing engagement on the part of the Embassy’s Humanitarian Assistance Programme, which has been active over the past two years in providing assistance to Guyanese communities in the areas of social, economic, and medical development.
Minister of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran thanked the Ambassador for the contribution. He said that the new equipment will help to replace the old ones which have been in operation for some time now.
“This donation is very important, the equipment will help us to provide better services to more people. We do have stuff (equipment) but sometimes they are old and we need replacement and this will be a good replacement,” the Health Minister said.
Dr. Ramsaran assured the Ambassador that the Materials Management Unit gift to his Ministry to boost the country’s health system, is serving its purposes. “We have gotten one of the most modern facilities in the Caribbean and we are putting it to the uses it was intended for.”
