Guyana: Health Ministry celebrates World Down Syndrome Day 2023

Georgetown, Guyana: The Ministry of Health of Guyana shared an update regarding the activities hosted by its Disability and Rehabilitation Services to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) 2023. The Ministry has informed that to commemorate WDSD, the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre, through the Ministry of Health’s Disability and Rehabilitation Services, hosted a day of activity for persons with Down Syndrome.

The Ministry has also informed that this activity was geared at increasing public awareness and showing support for individuals living with this genetic condition.

It further claimed that with this in mind, emphasis is placed on allowing children and young adults to be involved in all social activities while ensuring that there is adequate access to health care, early intervention programmes and inclusive education.

The Ministry of health also mentioned that to commemorate WDSD, people around the world would wear different coloured socks, which symbolise the one extra Chromosome that people with down syndrome usually carry.

As per the update by the Ministry, “The activity was supported by Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co Ltd (GTT), who donated a sum of $200,000 towards the purchase of t-shirts, socks and snacks for the children and parents who came out in their numbers at the rehab centre to mark today’s observance.”

While concluding the post, the health ministry informed that as per the information by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has one extra Chromosome. Chromosomes, which are small “packages” of genes in the body, and contribute to determining how the body of the baby will form and function as it grows during pregnancy as well as after birth.