Cabinet approves establishment of Allied Health Council

The Allied Health Council, a regulatory body formed to enhance and monitor the functioning of various aspects of environmental health, has been approved by Cabinet. The announcement was made by Minister of State, Joseph Harmon during a post -Cabinet press briefing, on Thursday.

The Council is a regulatory body formed to enhance and monitor the functioning of Environmental Health, a sub-specialty of the field of Public Health which deals with sanitation, hygiene and water among other factors in environmental health.

The council’s members have been appointed to serve for two years from March 1, 2016 to February 28 2018.

Persons recommended to serve on the council are recognised allied health professionals. Patricia Woolford, who is a Public Health Specialist, is responsible for spearheading the council. Along with Woolford, are representatives from the consumers’ organisations, medical associations such as the Medical Technologist Association, the Guyana Physiotherapist Association, the Guyana Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, Nutritionists and Dieticians Association, and the Guyana Radiographers Association.

Minister Harmon said that the council will also include, “the environmental health association of Guyana, of course the consumers association are invited, and the ex officio member of the council is Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Public Health.”

Since 2010, the year of the council’s initial establishment, it goes through a process of reconsideration at the level of Cabinet at two-year intervals. In 2014, the Allied Health Professions Act was amended to include health professionals who are under the purview of Environmental Health, Counselling and Testing bodies.

The Official Gazette dated March 24, 2012 indicates that the Act will govern the operations of Environmental Health Officers, Public Health Inspectors, Sanitary Inspectors, Port Health Officers and Environmental Health Assistants.