GUYANA
LAUNCHES PRESIDENT BUSH’S PMTCT INIATIVE
Ministry of Health and United States Embassy-Georgetown
will launch President George W. Bush's Prevention of Mother-to-child
Transmission (PMTCT) initiative and expansion of
the National PMTCT Programme in Guyana. .
The launch will take place on Wednesday, September
3,2003, West Demerara Regional Hospital. Region 3. with the main
speakers being His Excellency Roland Bullen. U.S. Ambassador to
Guyana and His Excellency. Bharrat Jagdeo. President. Republic
of Guyana. .
Guyana already provides services to over 5,000
women at 8 sites through its successful implementation of a pilot
PMTCT programme. It is estimated that nearly 1.000 HIV positive
women in Guyana give birth each year. while worldwide. the transmission
of the HIV virus infects at least one million children.
President Bush's PMTCT initiative will be jointly
implemented by the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
(COC). using an initial US$3.4 million to support the fight to.
prevent HIV infection among newborns in Guyana.
Guyana shares port of the US$500 million worldwide
initiative which focuses on increasing.
the availability of preventative care. including drug treatments
and building healthcare deliver/ systems to reach as many women
as possible with the care they need. There are fourteen countries
to benefit including. Haiti. Botswana, Cote d'ivoire, Ethiopia.
Kenya. Mozambique, Namibia. Nigeria. Rwanda. South Africa. Tanzania.
Uganda and Zambia.
The activities of the Guyana programme include
the provision of anti-retroviral (ARV} treatment to persons at
selected sites; increased access to PMTCT services through integration
of PMTCT services with maternal and child health services at 32
sites: ensure 75 percent PMTCT sites have regular and adequate
supplies; establish voluntary testing and counseling sites as
a point of entry for PMTCT services; train health care providers
in PMTCT service provision; strengthen national and regional laboratory
capacity; provide technical assistance in behaviour change communications.
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August 30, 2003