Health Minister urge Melanie residents urged to join medical profession

There is a need for human resources and therefore residents of Melanie and surrounding communities on the East Coast Demerara were, on Saturday encouraged to join the medical profession.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who was part of community outreach, pointed out that although the government has started training persons, more Guyanese are needed to bridge the existing gap in the medical field. “We also started training a lot of healthcare workers and our intention is that we need to train more nurses. We want people, we need people and therefore, we want persons to take advantage of these opportunities. So that you can have a career that helps”, he said.

Dr. Anthony encouraged the residents to utilise the 20 available training programmes to upskill themselves and make meaningful contributions to the country.

He disclosed that currently, there is a need for community health workers, pharmacy aids, pharmacy assistants, nursing assistants, and multi-purpose technicians, among others.

The minister stressed that the health ministry is working to modernise the way education is delivered in the sector by placing theoretical nursing courses online. This initiative, he said will be accessible to both private and public health facilities to provide and generate more training opportunities.

Minister Anthony noted that this is part of the government’s commitment of expanding the range of medical personnel across the country and efforts to provide employment for all Guyanese.

Meanwhile, Minister Anthony revealed that the engagement is one that aims to strengthen the relationship between the government and the community creating a direct link for citizens to have their issues concerns.

“We want to work very closely with you. We want to improve what is happening in every community. And the only way we will be able to do that is in collaboration with you. So, we are all here in this endeavour, so that we can improve conditions of living, and you can benefit from all that this government has to offer,” the minister said.

The health minister disclosed that persons interested in participating in the training programmes were provided the opportunity to register at the engagement. It was noted that the outreach was led by Prime Minister, Mark Phillips. Other ministers present included Public Affairs Minister, Kwame McCoy; Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, S.C; Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill; Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal; Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall; Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha and Public Service Minister, Sonia Parag.