Today, in the Ministry of Health’s Boardroom, the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, received several banners from UNICEF Guyana and Suriname. The three hundred and sixty (362) banners, funded by the Canadian Government, are part of promoting early childhood development within the regions of Guyana. These banners depict Positive Early Childhood Development messages written in English, Spanish, and Warrau languages for parents and primary caregivers.
Minister Anthony, in providing his remarks, stated that this donation is timely since the ministry is currently conducting a School Health Screening Programme.
“We are very happy to have this particular programme because we’re at the point now where we’re doing a lot of work among children. So we have a school health programme and you would have seen us starting to screen children from nursery. Last year in the latter quarter, we examined close to 12,000 children and we have been able to identify maybe about 1000 kids with varying problems”, he said.
Dr Anthony explained that this year, the Ministry hopes to continue that programme targeting not just nursery but primary school children. Some 87,000 will undergo screening this year.
Dr Anthony further noted that the donation would see each health facility across Guyana receive a banner. However, with only three hundred and sixty-two banners provided, he advocated for the partners to print a few more considering there are over four hundred health facilities in the country.
Meanwhile, in expressing gratitude to Canada for supporting this project, the Representative of UNICEF Guyana and Suriname, Mr Nicolas Pron, emphasised the importance of partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including government entities, to support children from their earliest stages.
Senior International Assistance Officer for the Canadian Government, Ms Kalima Ali, representing the High Commissioner, Mr Mark Berman, highlighted that this donation is part of the Canadian $3 million ‘Promoting Safe and Healthy Learning and Living Environments’ Project.
She stated that the project aims to build community childcare and education facilities and to ensure that there is equitable access to quality early childhood development tools and services for children in remote hinterland and indigenous communities.
Among those present at this simple handover ceremony were Mr Gabriel Vockel, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Guyana and Suriname; Ms Danielle Chase, Programme Associate at UNICEF; Ms Fiona Persaud, Education Officer at UNICEF; Dr Delroy Pyle, PMTC Coordinator and Mrs Carol Persaud-Douglas, Nurse Coordinating at PMTC.
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