| Health report finds…Road accidents feature among the top 10 leading causes of death and account for the most disabilities in Guyana.This was revealed in the recently unveiled Ministry of Health National Rehabilitation Services Strategy 2009 – 2013.It is reported that more than 600 people have died as result of accidents during the period 2006 through September 2009. And though this figure represents the number of persons killed, hundreds more have suffered due to injuries/disabilities they have sustained as a result of accidents. During the outlined period, up to 300 persons were injured in serious accidents, according to the strategy.“The magnitude or scale of this national public health problem and the intervention measures represent a challenge that is beyond the remit and capacity of any single agency,Jeff Green Jersey,” the strategic plan emphasises.According to the disability data in the Guyana National Census of 2002, 6.4 percent (48,Kurt Warner Cardinals Jersey,419) of the population of an estimated 751,233 reported a serious problem or difficulty of a permanent nature. Over 50 percent of those persons were females and an average of just 48 percent were males while in the total population 49.9 percent were female and 50.1 percent were male.Based on the census, sight was the most common difficulty reported by three in 10 persons or approximately 30 percent of the population. This problem was found to be most common among females and more prevalent in Regions Two, Seven and ten. Moving or mobility problems were identified as the second most common difficulty which accounted for about 16 percent of the disabled population.But while the mobility problem was uncovered among a vast section of the elderly population, it was also revealed in the census that those with lower levels of formal education showed higher prevalence of disability. In many circumstances persons with disabilities were less healthy, with underlying medical problems and no access to health care such as hospitalisation or routine medical check-ups.According to the census,Brent Seabrook Jersey, too, persons with disabilities were greatly under-represented in the labour force (ages 15 years and over). Hence the conclusion was that persons with disabilities tend to be unemployed or partially employed or have irregular working hours.The United Nations estimates that there are approximately 600 million people with disabilities worldwide, 400 million of whom are in developing countries. In fact, the Region of the Americas, including Guyana, has roughly 60 million people with disabilities.This startling revelation is also boldly highlighted in the strategic plan which is intended to guide the way forward in addressing the problem of disability.And among the contributory factors detailed in the strategic plan are the aging of the population,Brian Poole Falcons Jersey UK, the increase in non-communicable diseases,NFL Shop Gear, emerging and re-emerging diseases, growing violence,Calvin Ridley Jersey, the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco and banned substances and accidents of all types. It was further noted that there has been no clear decline in trend in the prevalence of disability in the general population.This development, according to the strategy, will result in greater demand for care in services and programmes that up to now have been insufficient.However, efforts are apace locally to address the situation as according to Director of Rehabilitation Services, Ms Barbara Lawrence, currently rehabilitation services are provided in nine of the 10 administrative regions. She revealed that services are offered at the regional and district hospitals and in some cases at the level of the health centres. |
