Guyana has Mpox vaccines if needed- Health Minister

With an active response system in place and medical personnel trained, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday said Guyana is prepared to treat and respond to any case of Mpox.

“We have bought vaccines and we have in stock vaccines against Mpox.

“I think our preparation so far has been quite good. The doctors and the other medical staff are quiet alert about what they need to do for Mpox,” Dr. Anthony said.

Mpox is caused by a virus. It is a disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although less severe.

Speaking to members of the media at the sidelines of an event, Dr Anthony said to ensure Guyana is in a state of readiness to respond to the disease, a National Mpox Committee, which consists of several Infectious Disease Specialists, was recently established.

While about 270 doctors were also trained and guidelines were provided to physicians on signs and symptoms and diagnosis of the Mpox disease.

“I think we are quite prepared.

“During the first outbreak, two cases were diagnosed. We managed to isolate and treat those… Everybody was alerted and we put systems in place so we have been able to activate those systems,” Dr Anthony explained.

Last weekend, the ministry also did training for more than 270 doctors across Guyana.

And with surveillance systems implemented at all of the country’s ports of entry, Dr Anthony said physicians have been provided with comprehensive guidelines on how to detect, diagnose and treat Mpox.