President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration will remove all taxes on essential health and hygiene products used by children, women and the elderly.
He made the announcement while speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the No. 75 Village Regional Hospital in East Berbice-Corentyne on Thursday.
“We’ll remove comprehensively all the taxes on essential health and hygiene items for children, women and the elderly, so that care is a right, not a luxury,” the Head of State assured.
The PPP/C had previously revealed plans to remove all taxes on sanitary products for these categories of individuals. The President’s recent statement now extends this initiative to include health-related items as well.
According to President Ali, healthcare should not be a luxury. He said the government has been investing heavily to build a world-class health sector, inclusive of moving boldly into advanced health care.
These include being able to conduct locally complex surgeries of the brain and heart, hip replacements, knee implants, organ transplant and cutting-edge cancer treatments.
“These will no longer be luxuries to be sought overseas. We’re bringing tomorrow’s medicine to Guyana today,” President Ali said.
“A sugar worker in Albion should not have to mortgage his home to send a loved one abroad for cancer treatment, a young mother in Rose Hall should not have to fly overseas for c-section complication,” he further outlined.
Meanwhile, the Head of State underscored the importance of collaboration in the sector, noting that competition should never be the goal.
“When the public and private sectors work together, the patient wins, the nation is only as strong as how it treats its most vulnerable citizen,” he expressed.
In this regard, the President said within the first six weeks of the PPP/C new term in office, it will complete Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for co-investment with the local private sector to manufacture saline and other fluids.
Guyana eyes production of peritoneal fluids, saline, syringes to supply local and regional markets
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