About the Project

	Public Health Strengthening in Guyana
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About the Project

DOTS workers with their new Project-donated motorcycles on

World TB Day, 2006

Background:

Guyana's health care system was well-designed and structured to emphasize primary health care. However, due to the rising incidence of both HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, Guyana is now facing a major health crisis, which has been exacerbated by limited financial resources and management; both a shortage and a skewed distribution of health care professionals in the country; inadequate social services and weak capacities to collect, analyze, and utilize health indicator data at both the local and national levels. The Public Health Strengthening in Guyana Project was collaboratively designed to help abate this crisis.

Who is Involved:

The project is a joint endeavour between the Government of Canada and the Government of Guyana, primarily through the Guyanese Ministry of Health (MOH). After a competitive bidding process, the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) was selected as the Canadian Executing Agency with responsibility for the design and implementation of this Project, officially called the HEALTH INFORMATION AND STI/HIV/TB PREVENTION AND CONTROL - GUYANA PROJECT.

Janet Hatcher Roberts (CSIH Executive Director), left to right, Reid Levenson (CIDA Project Manager PHSG) and Sonya Roopnauth (Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Guyana)

Goal:

The Project's goal is to improve and maintain the health of Guyana’s population by supporting an integrated approach to disease prevention, diagnosis, management, and care at both the national and regional levels. This will necessitate the provision of additional resources, both human resources and increased institutional capacity, to support interventions throughout Guyana. The Project's purpose is to strengthen the public health system by enhancing the capacity of the Government of Guyana to better manage, deliver, and monitor disease prevention and control programs in the areas of STI/HIV/AIDS and TB, and effectively plan, manage, and evaluate health care services.

Project Components:

The Project has four key components: A national program for the diagnosis, prevention, and control of STI and HIV/AIDS in selected centres in regions 3, 4, 6 and 10 according to national and international standards; a national program for the prevention and control of Tuberculosis using the WHO DOTS strategy in regions 3, 4, 6 and 10; the implementation of an adaptable and expandable electronic health information system to collect, process and communicate disaggregated health data on STI, HIV/AIDS and TB, and to contribute to national health policy; and the establishment of a home and community-based training program for the care and support of HIV/AIDS and TB clients in Linden, Georgetown, and New Amsterdam. For more information on each of these components, please visit their respective pages on this site.

A DOTS outreach worker on her way

to visit a patient

Anticipated Outcomes:

The Project is expected to result in improved national programs for the prevention and control of STI, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis; an improved capacity to collect health data, to process that data into information, and to communicate both data and information from their sources to points of use; an enhanced understanding of the importance of information in public health planning; an improved awareness of community-based approaches to disease prevention and control; an improved awareness of gender-specific health issues and an increased capacity, on the part of Project participants, to integrate gender awareness into their work; strengthened human resource capacity to sustain Project gains; and the development of global public goods, specifically through operational research and evaluation, and by identifying feasible and cost-effective methods for the delivery of programs to prevent and treat STI, HIV/AIDS and TB.

A Consultant undertaking the Project’s first home visit

Thus far, the PHSGP has made significant progress towards these results; for specific information concerning the Project’s outputs and outcomes, please refer to the other pages on this site, or to the latest Executive Summary of the Annual Narrative Report, available on the Project Results and Resources page.

A Project training participant receives a

Certificate of Participation

Work Breakdown Structure:

The activities undertaken by the CSIH in this Project promote an integrated approach to disease prevention, diagnosis, management, and care at both the national and district/community levels. How the Project is being implemented also recognizes that strengthening the capacity of educational institutions and of laboratories to deliver and sustain the prevention and management of STI, HIV/AIDS and TB are interrelated activities.

Timeline:

After over a year of designing and planning, the Project was officially inaugurated on June 12, 2003 during a signing ceremony held in Guyana, which was attended by the Guyanese Minister of Finance and the Canadian High Commissioner. Read about it here. In July of 2003, then CIDA HQ Officer Jennifer Lalonde and Guyanese Permanent Secretary Sonya Roopnauth signed off on the First Year Workplan.

Former CIDA HQ Officer Jennifer Lalonde (left) and Guyanese Permanent

Secretary Sonya Roopnauth officially signing off on the First Year Workplan

The Project recently completed its Fourth Project Year. While the project was initially scheduled to be completed after four years at a cost of $5.6 million, including in-kind contributions from CSIH of over $0.9 million, CIDA approved a Project proposal for an extension after the Guyanese Ministry of Health requested additional assistance. The Project is now scheduled to continue until April 2008 with activities planned until mid-October 2007. Thanks to the extension granted by CIDA, the Project team will be able to ensure that the improvements in Guyana’s public health care system over the past four years are sustainable well into the future.

The Project was distinguished as the winner at the 14th Annual Canadian Awards for International Cooperation recognizing the excellent work of Canadian businesses and organizations in developing countries and countries in transition and presented by Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters at a special ceremony held as part of CIDA’s International Cooperation Days 2006 Conference.

1 Nicholas Street, Suite 1105
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada K1N 7B7
Phone: (613) 241-5785 Fax: (613) 241-3845 Email: csih@csih.org