The Covid disaster unfolds and we keep cycling – Dagblad Suriname

A request has been made by the Minister of Health for more troops to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic that has grown over our heads. The government’s “laissez-faire” strategy is not commensurate with the responsibility the government has shouldered. The regulatory policy of the government cannot simply be to provide vaccines and rely on the responsibility of the citizen himself for the rest. Since the pandemic began, we have noticed that all measures are in conflict with the way the people of Suriname live. This is outside in groups, close to each other and for a long time, where people are talking and laughing and also dancing. Where people squat in front of different shops and drink sobi. This meant that the government had to constantly use education and public relations strategies to get them to give up this lifestyle temporarily, and then live with some freedom. We have also seen that the Surinamese strongly believe in ghosts and conspiracy theories. This is because we spend a lot of time on Facebook. It seems that the government has given up hope and resigned. But we don’t think there is room for the government to step down. A “retired government” with 300-600 people getting infected every day and 5-10 people dying every day is mismanagement. In fact, from now on, the number of people who die because there is no place in hospitals should also be announced. We don’t know if we understood the government information correctly, but it seemed for some time that not all the beds available in Suriname could be used for regular admission because there would not be enough medical and nursing staff. We found a recommendation online that a group from Suriname would have made “a little over a year ago” to the then health minister, who has since resigned. Interesting and aims to mobilize more human resources. We will embrace this fairly integrally as a possible solution model for government. It doesn’t seem impractical, but then one will have to roll up one’s sleeves administratively. First, it was recommended that 1,500 civil servants be selected from the growing civil service and trained to become health care workers. Here people should like it, because sitting all day and doing nothing is what many like. It was also recommended that 600 soldiers be trained to become health care personnel and be able to deploy in emergency situations. In addition, an open application is recommended so that you can train as health care workers for about 600 people. With this, the government will already have 2,700 new nurses at its disposal. But be aware, training real nurses costs time and money, and the infrastructure is there for that. But also note that there is a demand for trained nurses everywhere in the developed world where payments are made in dollars and euros. So once you have training and practical experience, you can easily move to the Caribbean or Western Europe. Now it is clear that we train a lot of cadres in a developing country with money from the society of rich countries, countries that have colonized and exploited us. So the exploitation continues. The government has since announced that many of the nurses have recently moved abroad.

The group also recommended that retired healthcare staff be recalled and registered so they can be deployed in emergencies, particularly with good compensation. Here we must realize that this group is particularly vulnerable. Moreover, Suriname does not have a culture of voluntary help and doing things.

Another recommendation was to work closely with our neighbors Guyana and French Guiana to transport patients to hospitals in these countries in case of emergency. We know that there are our compatriots not only at the eastern border, but also at the legal border who receive certain forms of medical assistance in French Guiana and Guyana. It is also interesting to recommend ordering mobile hospitals from developed countries that can afford them, such as the USA, China, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Government of Suriname can also request assistance to help set up these mobile hospitals. This recommendation is interesting because patients in Suriname suffer at home and sometimes die afterward. Zones can also be regenerated in areas suitable for receiving these patients. As a result, the spaces are ready in case things get out of hand in the areas. We think mainly of rural and inland areas. Other recommendations include agreements with friendly states for health care workers, additional temporary compensation for health care workers and the distribution of food in all neighborhoods without the risk of contamination. The group that made the recommendations believes that the “health catastrophe” that Suriname has now ended up with is due to the extremely poor spending and wasteful policies of the purple government, the short-sighted, stubborn and stubborn behavior of the current minister and government. The stubbornness of some people.