Dr Emily Kainne Dokubo visits National Care & Treatment Centre during official tour to Guyana

Guyana: The Health Ministry of the Republic of Guyana shared an update on the National Care & Treatment Centre and National Public Health Reference Laboratory site visit of Dr Emily Kainne Dokubo.

The update by the ministry informed that to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the President of the United States (US) Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), during her visit to Guyana, Dr Emily Kainne Dokubo, the Caribbean Regional Office Director for the Center for Disease Control, Prevention (CDC), accompanied by Mrs Sarah-Ann Lynch, United States Ambassador to Guyana, embarked on a site visit to the National Care & Treatment Centre and National Public Health Reference Laboratory, earlier this week.

According to the health ministry, during her brief remarks, Sarah-Ann Lynch highlighted that over US$100,890,000 was donated to Guyana in 2004 to assist with HIV prevention, care, treatment, and laboratory services. She noted that Guyana is the first Caribbean country to achieve 90 targets of the United Nations Programme on HIV or AIDS (UNAIDS).

Lynch further commended the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Health for their strong commitment towards efforts to end HIV by 2030 and is looking forward to a continued partnership.

“Through new scientific evidence and best practices, the US government is committed to helping Guyana and standing with them in achieving HIV epidemic control”, Mrs Lynch stated.

Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Dr Narine Singh expressed his gratitude towards CDC for their support in the health sector. He added that the ministry is looking forward to further collaborations since the National Care & Treatment Centre and the National Public Health Reference Laboratory are being repositioned.

The health ministry stated that among those present at yesterday’s activity were Dr Tariq Jagnarine, Programme Manager attached to NAPS; Jenelle Blackman, Programme Coordinating Manager and Joyce Whyte-Chin, National Coordinator, Medical Laboratory Services and Director of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory.