Health Vision 2020 'Health for all in Guyana' - A National Health Strategy for Guyana 2013-2020.

Health Vision 2020 'Health for all in Guyana' - A National Health Strategy for Guyana 2013-2020 is presents a coherent long-term plan for addressing health determinants and constraints in the health system in order to realize health for all in Guyana. It describes the conceptual and strategic direction of the strategy, highlighting the strategic pillars, goals and performance targets, including an overview of the strategic components that will be addressed over the eight years and presents the approach to the prioritization of the strategy across two phases of implementation. The vision is that: All people of Guyana are among the healthiest in the Caribbean and the Americas by the year 2020. The Ministry of Health will create an enabling framework for full participation and provide leadership in the integrated delivery of quality, effective and responsive health services and prevention measures to improve the physical, mental and social well-being of all peoples in Guyana. The ministry in collaboration with all stakeholders will steward national health issues of importance to society through advocating for health in all public policy. Health Vision 2020 defines seven dimensions of the health system: health governance and leadership, health financing, strategic information, drugs and medical supplies, services delivery through Integrated Health Service Delivery Networks and strategic partnerships. Six service priority areas are defined: health across the life course; non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, environmental health, food security and nutrition, and health promotion.
Health Vision 2020 is underpinned by the following values enshrined in international norms and conventions and constitutionally protected in Guyana. Health is a human right of all persons The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services. Further, the right to the highest attainable health was affirmed by the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Ministry of Health, as the agency of the government, must facilitate the development and realization of rights-based health policies including through ensuring that health systems and services are built on respect for the individual and ethical values, rejecting all forms of discrimination, and incorporating a sensitive treatment of gender. Health Vision 2020 identifies six health service components: Health across the life course; Non-communicable diseases including chronic diseases, mental health and injuries, accidents and violence; Communicable diseases including traditional and emerging infections; Environmental health; Food security and nutrition; Health information, education and literacy.
Health equity is defined as the absence of unfair and avoidable or remediable differences in health among population groups defined socially, economically, demographically or geographically or by gender. This value stipulates that health policies and programmes should ensure universal access to essential services and should be deliberate in developing the strategic information and interventions that will target the removal of health differences. Solidarity in Health This social value asserts that health is a priority of all of society and that each person should be engaged in providing for the health of himself or herself and all others, including the poor disadvantaged and deprived. The principal of solidarity in health must be extended to all peoples in Guyana and those from our CARICOM family, UNASUR countries, the Americas and the wider global community.
The following guiding principles and approaches connect with the preceding values to form the conceptual framework for Health Vision 2020, such as: Primary health care (PHC) remains the fundamental strategic approach of the Government of Guyana in realizing its health agenda. The PHC model drives the prioritization and organization of resource use in health care through the decentralized delivery of the Package of Publicly Guaranteed Health Services (PPGHS). The principle of active social participation of all of society in health follows from the principles of empowerment of individuals and the value of solidarity in health. This principle asserts that healthy communities reinforce the health of individuals, and therefore society, through its representatives in community, civil, national, international, private and public life, should work together to promote the health of all. Policy leaders, such as the MOH, must enable social participation by providing the space to meaningfully engage all of society.
Health Vision 2020 recognizes and incorporates mitigation measures to address the strategic risks posed by political, economic and social instability, absorptive capacities, stakeholder, and natural or man-made disasters. Development of the supportive M&E system for Health Vision 2020 will build on the M&E Framework through the elaboration of an M&E Plan to establish the supportive people, partnerships and planning; collect, synthesize and analyze data and utilize the resultant health information for improved decision-making. In Guyana, environmental health concerns arise through resource extraction activities, solid waste and sanitation management, management of water resources and access to quality drinking water, climate change and vulnerabilities to man-made and natural disasters.