| Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy (centre) along with representatives of the various organisations who signed the MOUs. As the Ministry of Health continues to implement its HIV/AIDS project, a total of 17 organizations yesterday signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), with a view to receiving a whopping $77 million in funding from the World Bank.This is a continuation of the HIV/AIDS project, which started in 2005. Guyana received the additional funding as a result of an extension granted by the World Bank, who after evaluating the project, recently commended works being executed.The entities that signed the MOUs include the Ministries of Amerindian Affairs, Culture, Youth and Sport, Labour, Housing and Water, Public Service, Home Affairs, Local Government and Regional Development, the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Guyana Sugar Corporation, Guyana Rice Development Board, President’s Youth Award Republic of Guyana, Project BX, Ogle Community Centre, Hope For All, Guyana Geology & Mines Commission, Hope Foundation and United Bridge Builders Mission.In his remarks at the ceremony, Minister of Health,Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the $77 million would be further expanded with a new grant of US$2M that Guyana was approved for by the Global Fund. This grant is expected to be signed by the end of the year, and would sustain a three-year program.After the signing of this grant,Nike Air Max Suomi, an additional G$400 million would be available for the Ministry of Health and in the next six years, approximately US$5 million (G$1 billion) will be available to provide support to civil organisations and line ministries to help in HIV work.“The ministry of health is pleased with the work that is being done and we believe that there is the potential to enhance what we already have done. The international organizations that are providing financial support to us also have confidence in the work we are doing in Guyana,” Minister Ramsammy stated.He added that Guyana’s fight against HIV is not restricted to the ministry of health, as it is engaging other ministries and governments along with civil society.In the last three years,Brandon Finnegan Jersey, Minister Ramsammy said, over 300,000 Guyanese have been tested for HIV/AIDS.“Whilst the public health sector provides testing facilities around the country, mobilizing people to get tested is beyond our capacity. This is where the other ministries and the civil society come in. Our success in ensuring that more than half the population knows their status is because of the collective, collaborative work between the ministry of health, the other ministries,Hydro Flask Water Bottle Australia, the state entities and civil society.”According to the Health Minister, Guyana has become one of the most successful countries in the world when it comes to people knowing their status.In 2001,Fjallraven Kanken Zaino Saldi, access to pregnant women in terms of Prevention of Mother-To-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) service was zero but at this time, according to Dr. Ramsammy, every pregnant woman in Guyana now has 100% access. In 2001, the estimate in the number of pregnant women that were HIV positive was 3 to 5%. At the end of 2008, the prevalence rate for the pregnant population of Guyana was 1.1%.Among commercial sex workers before 2001, 48% tested positive for HIV. In 2006, 26% tested positive and at the end of 2008, 16% tested positive for the virus.In terms of men who have sex with men, in 2006 close to 22% tested positive and between 2006 to now, the global statistics for the prevalence among men who have sex with men has increased, but Guyana’s statistics have remained stable, since at the end of 2008, new studies indicated that 19% tested positive.“These are examples that the program is working and this is the time that we need to intensify our efforts. Some will say that because things are improving, it is time for us to pay less attention and to devote less energy and investment. As Minister of Health,Jerseys NFL Cheap, I say this is the time for us to spend more money and to devote more energy because we have demonstrated that what we are doing can work and so our goal must be to eliminate HIV as a public health scourge.” |
