PAHO representative Dr Luis Codina, Advisor to the Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy and Mission Leader Dr Marlo Libel (Photo: DPI/ July 24, 2023)
Acknowledging the importance of regulating this usage to protect individuals, society, and the environment, a board with representatives from various public and private sector agencies, such as the Guyana Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ministry of Labour will be formed.
The bill was drafted by the Attorney General’s Chambers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Additionally, the government has reached out to international agencies to improve the services offered at the National Public Health Laboratory. Dr Ramsammy said it is the government’s hope that this lab will become a premiere facility responding to health needs across the Caribbean.
“The Minister of Health wants to make the national public health lab of Guyana the premiere public health lab in this region; we are working with CARPHA [Caribbean Public Health Agency], we are working with our friends in Argentina, so that we could elevate our national public health lab but having one good central lab does not solve the problem.
“We have to ensure that our laboratories in the region have greater capacity both in terms of human resource and equipment,” Dr Ramsammy said.