Georgetown : Having been enacted two years ago, The Allied Health Professions Act has been amended to include health professionals who fall under Environmental Health and Counselling and Testing. This is according to the official gazette dated March 24, 2012, which states that the Act will now govern the operations of Environmental Health Officers, Public Health Inspectors, Sanitary Inspectors, Port Health Officers and Environmental Health Assistants. According to the Order signed by Minister of Health, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, the practice of Environmental Health is a sub speciality of the field of Public Health and includes the disciplines associated with sanitation, hygiene and water. It was noted too that the course of engaging in the practice of Environmental Health as a Sanitary Inspector, Public Health Officer, Environmental Health Officer or Environmental Health Assistant “a person may, subject to terms, conditions and limitations imposed on his (her) certificate of registration, perform or prescribe the use of population health procedures including the incorporation of measures to homes, communities and districts to prevent, contain, reduce, eliminate or eradicate a public health threat.”
The Order points out again that in the course of engaging in the practice of counselling and testing as a Counselor/Tester, “a person may, subject to terms, conditions and limitations imposed on his (her) certificate of practice take blood samples from veins or by skin pricking.” It was asserted that the practice of counselling is a health measure dedicated to identifying risk factors for vulnerable population and providing necessary psychological support for the processes of testing for communicable disease with potential for challenges the course of a disease through management, treatment and cure.
And in order to ensure that the operations of these officials are properly monitored, The Allied Health Professions Council has been established as a body corporate in April 2012 at the Ministry of Health’s Brickdam, Georgetown, head office.
Based on the Order, the Chief Medical Officer shall be ex officio member of the Council with two individuals from the Allied Health Professionals being appointed as members of the first Council and six representing the professional association and another two from the consumers’ organisations.
The Allied Health Professionals appointees are Mr Andrew Boyle, Medical technologist and Ms Petal Surjpaul, Medical Physicist. The representatives of the Professional Association are: Mr Nolan Hawke, Medical Technologist Association Representative; Ms Gloria Garraway, Guyana Physiotherapist Association; Ms Isha Hector, Guyana Association of Rehabilitation Professionals; Ms Norma Howard, Nutritionist and Dietician Association of Guyana; Ms Donna Bowman, Guyana Radiographers’ Association and Ms Ameena Hinds, Environmental Health Association of Guyana. Mr Patrick Dyal is the appointee drawn from the Guyana Consumers Association and Ms Vidushi Persaud represents Legal Consumer.
Based on the Minister’s Order, Mr Boyle is to be nominated to act as the Chairperson and Ms Garraway as Deputy Chairperson of the first Council for the period January 2012 through December 2014.
