MINISTER of Health and President of the World Health Assembly (WHA) Dr. Leslie Ramsammy yesterday brought to the Assembly’s attention the issue of Guyana and the Caribbean’s problem of migration of health care workers, which even after several conferences and agreements, has worsened and called for urgent action to tackle it.

Speaking at the opening of the 61st World Health Assembly which commenced yesterday at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and will be facilitated until May 24, Minister Ramsammy noted, “Surely we are capable of some equitable solution to this problem.”

Minister Ramsammy said, “developing countries must benefit from their investment in training, while not limiting freedom of movement.”

He highlighted that Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) increasingly are bringing greater disease burden, accounting for more than half of the global mortalities and global morbidity and urged that the World Health Organisation (WHO) must take its natural place in leading the fight against the NCDs, in ensuring that the NCDs are properly placed as high priority on the global public health agenda.

The Guyanese health minister also noted that “HIV continues to defy our best efforts and our best technologies”.

“We must commend those countries that have responded courageously and have made a significant dent on the transmission of HIV, and still we need a re-energized battle against HIV.”

“Guyana has moved to earlier treatment of HIV, providing true universal access…Clearly the benefits of earlier treatment overwhelm the risk of toxicity from treatment. Guyana is also convinced that we need to promote more provider initiated testing and that abstinence-only prevention programmes do not work”.

Minister Ramsammy highlighted that access, availability and coverage for vaccines in immunization programmes must not be one of the factors that contribute to the gap between rich and poor countries, between the north and the south and among countries.

“Vaccines must be seen as a global good. A child born in Africa or Asia or the Caribbean or in South or Central America or in North America or Europe has the same right to a vaccine. There can be no dispute about this. If every child counts, then I cannot fathom a situation where some children are deprived of vaccines, simply because of where they were born, ” the Minister stressed.

He said the WHO must advocate for greater vaccine productivity to meet the world’s demands. Guyana supports the quest for high quality vaccines, but Guyana also is of the view that existing mechanisms are designed to reduce competition and the result is inequity.

“Too many of our sisters and brothers have lost their lives because of natural disasters and leave their loved ones to cope with great tragedies. In more recent times, the peoples of China and Myanmar (Burma) have had to endure great tragedies. Even as we speak, these countries are coping with the death and disappearance of thousands of their citizens and untold sufferings,” said Minister Ramsammy.

He noted that too many are suffering from human conflicts and all human conflicts are ultimately public health challenges.

“These conflicts not only bring great sufferings on millions of people, but diminish humanity, diminish our global aspiration for decent lives for all humanity.” “Health for All is not possible in a world with conflicts. I believe we have the capacity for greater efforts to achieve peace and harmony. We must find the courage to choose peace over conflicts, to choose Health for all over political, ethnic, and religious divisions,” Minister Ramsammy stressed.