Guyana Health Profile 2012

Guyana, a country of approximate population of 751,223 and 214,970 km2 land mass, extends along the north–eastern coast of South America and shares borders with Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela (Bolivarian Repbulic of). It is the only Englishspeaking country in the South American continent being a former British territory which gained independence in 1966.
Guyana is thereby very closely linked to the English-speaking Caribbean and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The country is a democratic republic functioning under a Westminster system of government. Guyana is divided into 10 administrative regions and the local government structure consists of 10 Regional Democratic Councils (RDC), 65 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC), 6 municipalities and 76 Amerindian Village Councils. The country has a multiracial population with Indo-Guyanese representing 43.45%, Afro-Guyanese accounting for 30.20% and Amerindians representing 9.16%, people of “mixed heritage” accounting for 16.73%. People of European and Chinese descent comprise a very small proportion of the overall population (0.07%). Georgetown, the capital, which comprises 20.7% of the total population lies below sea level and as a result is prone to flooding. The economy of Guyana is based on its abundant natural resources (bauxite, gold and diamonds), including a fertile and productive soil, water resources caused by many rivers and a continental shelf off the Atlantic coast. The vast rain forest of Guyana led to the recent development of a Low Carbon Development Strategy in response to climate change issues.

HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT
The government of Guyana considers health to be the right of every citizen and the responsibility for the health of the people rests with MOH. The country has in place some key national frameworks such as the National Health Sector Strategy 2008-2012 which provide strategic direction to the ways the national health systems and services are organized and delivered.

Guyana's health care system is highly decentralized; with the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development undertaking responsibility for managing, financing and providing health services at the regional level through the Regional Democratic Councils (RDC) and the Regional Health Authorities (RHA). The RDCs and RHAs receive technical and professional guidance from the MOH. The private sector functions independently but regulated by the health facilities Licensing regulation which mandates standards of care and practices. The involvement of NGOs in service delivery is largely biased towards HIV/AIDS. In spite of an advanced network of health services in the periphery, access to health care in the more remote regions which is addition are sparsely populated makes equity in health and other infrastructural services for many indigenous people considerably challenging.

The public health services are mainly financed by the government with contributions from the donor community. There has recently been a significant increase in the allocation to the health sector amounting to 10% of the total government recurrent budget in 2007. Guyana’s per capita health expenditure compares very favourably with other Latin American and Caribbean countries with an increase from US$45.00 in 2005 to US$67.00 in 2007. There is however no national health insurance system but a national insurance scheme for employees, mandatory for all employed persons between the ages of 16-60 including the self-employed.

In its steady march towards the achievement of the Millennium development Goals, Guyana has made significant advances in its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, combat HIV/AIDS and achieve environmental sustainability. The attainment of the health -related MDGs such as reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and reducing the levels of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria still faces some major challenges. In addition the epidemiological transition towards noncommunicable diseases now accounting for very high burden of mortality and morbidity combined with the presence of unrelenting communicable diseases present considerable challenges to achieving better health outcomes for the population.

OPPORTUNITIES 

• Very high level of political commitment towards improvement of health services and healthoutcomes of the population.
• Availability of current and comprehensive policy guidance for health.
• Availability of Publicly Guaranteed Package ofHealth Care Services Package.
• Government financing of health services and commensurate per capita expenditure on health.
• The passage of Regional Health Authority Act and the MOH Act to support decentralization and funding of health services.

CHALLENGES

• Unavailability of integrated Health Information System and limited use of health information to support decision making.
• Limited infrastructural facilities, difficult terrain and sparsely populated hinterland making delivery and monitoring of health services difficult.
• Insufficient human resources for health and absence of a HumanResource Strategic Plan.
• High burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases.
• Persistent new and emerging communicable diseases including neglected diseases (e.g. geohelminths).
• High maternal and infant mortality.
• High burden of mental health disorders, suicide rates and substan abuse.
• Vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters and weak epidem alert and response capacity.
• Inadequate quality of health services.