Persons living among those diagnosed with Leprosy will soon have access to preventative measures to “break the chain of transmission” as the Health Ministry looks to eliminate the disease by 2030.
Leprosy is among five others infectious diseases that the government has identified for elimination. Filaria, Chagas, Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are the others.
Minister Anthony, during the consideration of budget 2024 estimates on Friday, reported a “substantial” decline in leprosy cases. He said the ministry continues to monitor patients individually and those living in the same household.
“We want to introduce a programme where we can give prophylaxis to those people in the household, so we break the transmission chain. So, that’s a new initiative that will start this year. We’ve made adequate provisions for that,” the minister noted in response to questions posed in the Committee of Supply.
Regarding Filaria, Minister Anthony noted that no parasites were found in eight of the country’s 10 Administrative Regions but noted that more emphasis will be placed on areas where filaria is present.
“In those two regions, which is Four and Three, there are specific areas that we’ll have to put some more focus on…We will target those areas with mass drug administration,” he noted.
The Health Minister said that his ministry is expecting an international evaluation team this year to examine progress made in the elimination of Filaria. He registered his confidence in the country attaining “good results”.
Dr Anthony also expressed optimism that all of the five diseases listed will be eliminated from Guyana by 2023.
He added that the planned implementation of a new electronic surveillance system this year will assist in tracking those identified infectious diseases.
Dr Anthony also told the Committee of Supply that some $11 million has been set aside to train miners in the detection and treatment of malaria. This is a new initiative that will be launched by the ministry soon. Miners will be equipped with rapid testing kits and knowledge on how to use them.
