Guyana: Health Ministry launches Opening Ceremony of strategic Coordination Meeting

Georgetown, Guyana: The Health Ministry of Guyana, in collaboration with the PAHO – Pan American Health Organisation, launched the Opening Ceremony of the five-day strategic Coordination Meeting of the Main Actors of the National Food Control System of Guyana on March 15, 2023, according to the Ministry.

The meeting, being held at Cara Lodge Hotels, is geared at providing technical support to the development of a tailored action plan for food safety multispectral collaboration for short, medium and long terms.

The update by the Ministry further informed that Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, during his feature address, said that the meeting would facilitate an assessment which would locate gaps and identify solutions to enhance systems.

“People will trust our food if they know we have strong systems to guarantee food safety and can withstand any external examination,” Minister Anthony said. The Minister, in closing his remarks, extended gratitude to the Pan American Health Organisation for their efforts and continual partnership towards building a sustainable health system in Guyana.

The update informed that meanwhile, Delma Nedd, Permanent Secretary of the Agriculture Ministry, stated that the Ministry recognises the coordination required to bring change in food safety awareness and inspire actions to help detect, prevent and manage food-borne risk.

“Today we must realise that food is the starting point for energy, our health and well-being”, Nedd explained. The five-day meeting is expected to access and build a veterinary public health laboratory and food safety laboratory capacity for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)-integrated surveillance.

Also present at this event were Dr Margarita Corrales, Food and Safety Coordinator attached to PANAFTOSA-PAHO; Dr Rainer Escalada, the Advisor of Health Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control attached to PAHO; Dr Ozaye Dodson, the Director of Veterinary Public Health Department; Ms Zareefa Bacchus, Food Safety Coordinator attached to the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute; George Jarvis of the Guyana Food Safety Authority and other stakeholders from various agencies.