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Guyana

Guyana thanks global community for help with flood recovery

United States provided disaster-relief aid to South American nation

By Eric Green, Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The South American nation of Guyana has thanked the international community for helping it recover from floods in January that left thousands of people without shelter, food or drinkable water.

In a May 19 statement released by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Guyana's health minister, Leslie Ramsammy, said the floods that affected half of his nation's population highlighted the importance of how international partnerships can help a country overcome a natural disaster.

Ramsammy said Guyana averted a major health catastrophe, partly by controlling an outbreak of a bacterial disease known as leptospirosis. That disease is usually caused by exposure to contaminated water. About 20 deaths were tied directly or indirectly to the floods. Some of the deaths were caused by drowning and acute dehydration, while others were attributed to treatment delays due to floodwaters.

Guyana needs continuing global help to overcome critical shortages of health workers, continue its high immunization coverage and provide anti-retroviral drugs to people with HIV/AIDS, Ramsammy contended. President Bush has targeted Guyana, Haiti and 12 countries in Africa hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in his $15 billion, five-year emergency plan to turn the tide in the war on the disease. (For additional information on the president's program, see "HIV/AIDS and Other Infectious Diseases.")

In a briefing during the 58th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Ramsammy said health expenditures in his country have increased to $55 for each person every year. But the country's poverty rate remains high in rural interior areas, where 70 percent of the population earns less than $1 a day. Guyana's overall poverty rate is 19 percent, down from almost 28 percent 10 years ago.

Officials from some 192 countries are participating in the May 16-25 Geneva health assembly, which is discussing such issues as preparedness for an influenza pandemic, polio eradication, malaria and a global immunization strategy.

Besides PAHO, several U.S. government agencies and experts helped Guyana recover from the flooding, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and disaster-relief specialists from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. That USAID office provided such items as tanks for drinking water, blankets and hygiene kits with disinfectant. Other global organizations assisting Guyana included the UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

PAHO has designated Guyana as one of five key countries deserving special attention to improve national health development. The other countries are Bolivia, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.

PAHO Director Mirta Roses praised "the generosity and solidarity we have seen toward Guyana, both from the region and elsewhere, and the partnerships and technical cooperation among countries that is making possible Guyana's transition in health development."

Roses added that the "special country focus and continuing integrated support for Guyana as a key country is vital until we see the fruits of development that will come from a healthier, stronger population."