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10/18/11 (AEIN) To recognize its provision of quality healthcare services, the country of Guyana has received the Sergio Arouca Award for Excellence from the Pan American Health Organization. Its representatives handed the award to Guyana's Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, the Government Information Agency reported late Monday.
The award recognizes the success of the Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness program operated by the Guyanese Health Ministry. Almost 250 medical centers and posts in the South American nation apply this program. Its approach to serious illnesses and chronic diseases has helped boost the country's life expectancy.
UNICEF statistics indicate that Guyanese people have an average lifespan of sixty-seven years, which exceeds the life expectancies of many developing countries. Nearly all young children in Guyana receive important vaccinations and the infant mortality rate has dropped by at least thirty-nine percent since 1990.