Good job on the TB Campaign

not at the discretion of any government, much less the PPP with its “two weeks” mantra We reiterate: Guyana is not Georgetown, andallGuyanesedeservethe opportunity to speak. This, again,weholdtobeobvious. Only political parties that serve their own corrupt interests would play games when$100billionUSDison the line. Unfortunately, that perfectlydescribesthePPP

YoursSincerely

ElsonLow, Economic and Youth PolicyAdvisortotheLeader oftheOpposition

Concernsaboutethnicunderrepresentation...

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Indians’ or have a parent, relative or ancestor of a different ethnic group? There is a documented history of attacks, oppression and exclusion against Indian Guyanese especially during protests, 1960sriots,generalelections and during the Burnham era which resulted in increased emigration of Indian Guyanese from Guyana. In addition, African Guyanese have their own legitimate grievances which they can substantiate.

The writer mentioned that an African woman ‘made herself appear more Indian’ when she went to apply for a house lot, how does one do that? Can an African Guyanese make himself or herself appear Chinese,White,Amerindian orIndianandviceversa?The fact is that the vast majority of employees in state agencies including the Ministry of Housing are AfricanGuyanese.

Are these employees biased to persons of their own ethnic group, and if allocation is unfair then it should be proven with statistical information. The writer also mentions that duringthecrimewaveIndian bandits were cutting their hair low to appear African. Why would they do this and what was the ethnic composition of bandits arrested during the crime wave and the ethnic composition of victims? Does the statistics from the policesupportthisassertion?

A story about ‘Africans’ dressed in Indian wear during Diwali celebration in a workplace which was called out for having few Indian employees was also highlightedbythewriter He asserted that the ‘Africans’ had Indian blood therefore the workplace was not manned by mainly African

Guyanese.

This could be fiction or non-fiction but again the w r i t e r s h o w s h i s insensitivity and lack of consideration for the real concernsofothersandthose employeesbytryingtoerase orobscuretheidentityofthe ‘African’ employees, did they identify as Indian, African or Mixed race (another ethnic group in Guyana)? Can one say that the people who normally attendmandirsinGuyanaare ethnically diverse because they may have African ancestors although they appearIndianandidentityas such? Also, Guyana isn’t caught up in the cultural appropriation gimmick and there is the tendency in schools and workplaces for children and adults to dress up in the cultural attire of other ethnic groups on ‘Culture Day’ and holidays, this is mainly done out of respectandsolidarity

If I dress up in Chinese wear one shouldn’t automaticallyassumeIhave Chineseheritage.

Editor, I don’t believe that the concerns and opinions of others on contentious topics such as r a c e , e t h n i c i t y , discriminationandexclusion regarding specific persons, institutions and situations should be discredited with vague assertions, lack of statistical information or evidence especially when one is not a concerned party or representative For instance, has UG responded to allegations in the press about not hiring ‘enough’ Indian Guyanese teaching personnel?

Afairexaminationofthe issues of ethnic conflicts, m a r g i n a l i s a t i o n , discrimination, racism and ethnic composition in the private and public sectors should encompass what is documented and not just

DEAREDITOR, I am glad to read that “Guyana is on track to end TB by 2030.” This is ‘big’ news.Tuberculosis,oraswe say, TB, worldwide, was pushed aside, because of the COVID crisis, which is still not fully over The statistics show that COVID-19 has in fact reversed progress made in the fight against TB by over a decade. This was the natural result that defaulted fromthenecessaryinputand emphasis on the COVID pandemic, and thus, access to essential TB prevention and care services in 2020 was severely affected gettingthefulldailyDOTS.” Henotedthatthisledtosome 396 new cases being detectedoranincidencerate of 53 per 100,000 at the end of2022.Thethingisthatthe Ministry of Health is ever vigilant and aggressive, as the country actually “ made great strides over the yearstoreducetheincidence of TB (as) If we reflect back to 2012 when we actually rolled out all TB servicesinthe10regionsfor detection and treatment, we had92per100,000.Overthe years,wewereabletoreduce it.”

(rifampicin and isoniazid) aretakeneverydayforthree months Sometimes, the treatment period is six months, with only one type of medication (isoniazid). So, we can be confident in the Director’s words which elaborated that “To treat latentTBinfectioncurrently, we’re using isoniazid daily for six months and with this combination that we will be launching soon, we will be giving the patients once a week for 12 weeks. That’s halfthetimeandonlyoncea week.” conjectures, our history especially during and after colonialism; attacks against Indian Guyanese and African Guyanese, the frequency, causes and perpetrators; documented instances of discrimination against these particular ethnic groups during the PPPC and PNC or APNU era; and the reasons for present day ethnic conflicts. Why are employees in state agencies and public instructions mostly African Guyanese, how did this happen?WhyistheGPFand GDF mostly composed of African Guyanese and were they ever different? Why is the business class, private sector mostly composed of Indian, Chinese and Portuguese Guyanese? Is there discrimination against Indian Guyanese in the public sector or when they apply for jobs? Are there barriers preventing African Guyanese from opening businesses and can this be proven? Do Indian G u y a n e s e r e c e i v e incentives/preferential treatment simply because of their ethnicity when they decide to open businesses, andcanthisbeproven?What about the preference for certain professions and the fact that children tend to follow in the footsteps of theirparents?Isitwrongfor parents to pass down their businesses to their children or a child choosing to become a nurse because her mother whom she greatly admiresisanurse?Thereare so many factors to consider and questions to ask when dealing with the ethnic problemasawholebutwhat is not complicated or cumbersometodealwithare the concerns of individuals who should be allowed a voice and not simply dismissedwithconjectures.

Yoursfaithfully, NarissaDeokarran

Overall,globally,in2020,an estimated9.9millionpeople were ill with TB, and an estimated1.5millionpeople died from TB, including 214,000 among persons living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Here in Guyana, we are ontheTBtrailandnottaking it lightly I read from Director of the Tuberculosis Programme, under the Health Ministry, Dr Jeetendra Mohanlall, that there is an actual decline in the incidence rate since efforts were made to tackle TB. As I did mention, COVID derailed smooth runnings that led to the lack of the daily DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy) for patients. This means that trained health care workers or other designated individuals (excluding a familymember)werenoton hand to provide the prescribed TB drugs and watch the patient swallow every dose. Dr Jeetendra Mohanlall explained that “(Although) We’re on track to end TB by 2030, we still have some challenges We still have some struggles in RegionFourwherewe’renot

Another noteworthy observation, and as intimated earlier, is where c0-morbidityisafactor This isalwaysgoingtotakealot, but the country has reasons to be proud. The record shows that “Instances of Tuberculosis and HIV coinfection also existed, but this has been on the decline. (As) In 2012, the coinfectionratewas32percent when compared to 16 in 2022.

Editor, in being realistic, Dr Jeetendra Mohanlall explained that as “We continue to work together withourcolleaguesfromthe HIV programme. There is a lotofworktodo,butoverthe years, we have managed to drop the burden of TB coinfection with a lot of prevention. On the note of prevention, we have new medications to introduce in the country for latent TB infection.” The Head was referring here to “A combination pill of rifapentine and isoniazid (that)willberolledoutsoon todecreasethepillburden.”

Letmestitchinherethat globalbestpracticesspeakof what Guyana is doing Worldwide, usually, two types of medications

In terms of geographic progress and modern technology, the news is that “Guyana has moved from oneTB site in the year 2000 tonowhavingsome21sites across the country and five establishedTB clinics in the prisons.” It gets better as “Anothersitewillbecreated at Soesdyke next for which staffers are being trained. The ministry had also rolled out regional testing for TB using the Gene X-pert technology that is the international method (GeneXpert is a rapid moleculartestthatallowsthe detection of M. tuberculosis and simultaneously detects resistance to the antibiotic rifampicin, all in less than twohours.)”

I remind my readers that Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs spread betweenpersonsthroughthe air Whileittypicallyaffects the lungs, it can also affect other parts of the body includingthebrain,kidneys, or spine Despite being preventable and curable, TB remainsachallenge,causing 1.5 million deaths globally everyyear (G12).

Thewordthenis‘takeno chance.’

Yourstruly,

H.Singh